
Book -. P .r 

CopyiigkJJ!' 



CORfRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE VALUE OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 



THE VALUE OF 
SCHOOL SUPERVISION 

Demonstrated with the Zone Plan in Rural Schools 



By 



MARVIN SUMMERS PITTMAN 

Head of the Department of Rural Education 

Michigan State Normal College 

Ypsilanli, Michigan 




BALTIMORE 

WARWICK & YORK, Inc. 

1921 



v^-''' 

r^ 



Copyright, 1921, By 
WARWICK & YORK, Inc. 



0)CI,A630353 



SEP24'2A 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

The writer is indebted to many people for assistance 
ii. connection with the experiment upon which this 
discussion is based and the formulation of the data 
which present the results in their final form. He 
wishes to make special aacknowledgment to the fol- 
lowing : 

Dr. H. W. Foght, President of the Northern Nor- 
mal and Industi-ial School, Aberdeen, S. D., and 
Miss Lucile Trott, Coun't}^ Superintendent of Brown 
County, for their administrative support and personal 
assistance ; 

Misses Ida Buchert, Edna Luke, Martha Pabst, 
Birdie Williams, Mildreth Nolen, Lennie Cox, Vivian 
Neiger, Myrtle Wineland, Louise Low, Beulah Wil- 
liams, Marie Schrimpf, Ida Gunderson, Alma Wiedi- 
busch, Bessie Freeman and Mr. R. H. Rhoades for 
their co-operation as the teachers of the schools in 
which the experiment was conducted ; 

Various members of the faculty of the Northern 
Normal and Industrial School and especially Miss 
Ivy Husband and Mr. J. W. Thomas, who assisted in 
administering and scoring all tests and without whose 
help the experiment would have been practically impos- 
sible ; and 

Dr. W. C. Baglev ior^ constructive criticism, Dr. 
Fannie Wyche Dunned lor '•• jniost constructive sug- 
gestions and criticism, Dr. Wm. A. McCall for his 

V 



vi the; VAI.UE of SCHOOL SUPERVISION 

guidance in all of the statistical computation, and 
Dr. Frederick G. Bonser, whq served as chief advisor 
to the writer in the selection of the problem, the field 
activities of the experiment, and the writing" of this 
book. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Introduction by Frederick G. Bonser i 

Chapter I. — The Problem, the Method, and the 
Results Stated 

A. The Problem 5 

B. The Method 5 

C. The Results and Conclusions 6 

Chapter II. — The Determining Conditions of the Ex- 
periment. 

A. The Conditions Required 9 

B. Required Conditions Found in Brown 

County, S. D 10 

Chapter III. — The Equivalence of Groups 

A. Locations of the Two Groups 12 

B. Particulars in which Groups Were Com- 

pared. 

1. Types of Schools 13 

2. Length of School Term 14 

3. Social and Economic Status of Com- 

munities 14 

4. Parentage of Children — Nationality, 

Education, and Wealth 15 

5. Character of Teachers Employed — Age, 

Education, Experience, Certification... 16 
Chapter lY. — The Zone Plan of Supervision Used 

A. The Zone Plan Defined 19 

B. Calendar of Events for the Year 19 

1. Supervisory Tours 20 

2. Teachers' Meetings 21 

vii 



viii table; oi^ contents 

C. A Sample Supervisory Letter 23 

D. What the Supervisor Did While on a Tour 25 

E. What Was Done at the Group Teachers' 

Meetings 30 

F. Discussion of Teacher's Classroom and 

Demonstration Teaching 37 

1. The Limitations of the Individual Con- 

ference 38 

2. Advantages of the Group Conference. . . 38 
Chapter V. — Community Activities of the Super- 
visor 

A. Visits in the Homes of the People 41 

B. The School Newspaper for the Zone 42 

C. Social Phases of the Teachers' Meetings. . 44 

D. The "Health and Happiness" Meetings. ... 45 

E. The Spelling Matches 47 

F. The Crusade Against Gophers 49 

Chapter VL — The Statistical Data of the Experi- 
ment 

A. The Tests 51 

1. Functions Tested 51 

2. Tests and Scales Used 51 

3. When Tests Were Given 52 

4. By Whom Tests were Administered 52 

5. By Whom Tests were Scored 53 

B. How the Data Which Used were Secured. 53 

C. How the Data Are Presented 54 

D. What Tables I-VH Show. 55 

Table L Third Grade. . . : 57 

n. Fourth Grade 58 

in. Fifth Grade 59 

IV. Sixth Grade. 60 



TABI.E OF CONTe;nTS IX 

V. Seventh Grade 6i 

VI. Eighth Grade 62 

VII. Summary — All Grades 63 

E. What Tables VIII-XXI Show 64 

Table VIII. Speed in Reading- 65 

IX. Speed in Answering- Ques- 
tions on Reading 66 

" X. Index of Comprehension. . . 67 
" XI. Number of Questions An- 
swered Correctly on Al- 
pha 2 68 

XII. Spelling 69 

XIII. Composition 70 

" XIV. Speed in Penmanship 71 

" XV. Quality in Penmanship.... ']2 
XVI. Number right in Addition. . 73 
" XVII. Number right in Subtraction 74 
" XVIII. Number right in Multiplica- 
tion 75 

" XIX. Number right in Division. . yd 
" XX. Number right in Fraction . . yy 
" XXI. Summary of Equated Dif- 
ferences 78 

" XXII. Summary of Percentages of 

Pupils Improving 80 

F. Summary of Statistical Results 81 

Chapter VII. — Other ResuUs Not Shown by the 
Standardized Tests 

A. Resuhs Indicated by the Children. ....... 83 

B. Results Indicated by the Patrons 84 

C. Results Indicated by the Teachers 89 

D. Resuhs of Special Campaigns 91 



X table: of contents 

Chapter VIII. — The Results of Supervision Re- 
stated and Discussed 

A. The Results 94 

1. Amount of Superiority of Improvement 94 

2. Monetary Value of the Supervisor's 

Service 100 

3. Professional Reading of Teachers loi 

4. Effect upon School Attendance loi 

5. Effect upon the Progress of various 

Grades 102 

6. Effect upon Retention in School of Older 

Pupils 103 

7. Effect upon Social Life of Community. .104 

B. Special Related Conclusions 104 

1. Progress in Supervised Subjects not Det- 

rimental to Other Subjects. 104 

2. Supervision Must Fix Attention upon 

Elements to Be Improved 106 

C. General Conclusions from the Entire Study. 107 
Chapter IX. — Further Elaboration of the Zone 

Plan Looking Toward Its Application 

A. The Sphere of the Supervisor 109 

B. The Schedule of the Supervisor's Work.. 112 

C. The Supervisor's Assistants 119 

D. The Supervisor's Use of Publicity 123 

Bibliography 127 



INTRODUCTION 

Among all of the forms and grades of schools under 
public administration, there are none as much in need 
of supervisory guidance and help as the district schools 
in the open country. Such schools represent the most 
difficult supervisory problems found in our school sys- 
tem. Country schools are distant from each other and 
from county seats. Country roads are aften poor. To 
visit country schools is enormously expensive in time, 
money, and energy. It is difficult to bring teachers 
together frequently for group conferences. To develop 
any plan by which supervision of country schools may 
be made more efficient and at an expenditure of time 
and money which does not make it prohibitive is 
therefore to make a very genuine contribution to the 
progress of country school education. 

There is involved here, however, a very fundamental 
question as to the values of school supervision itself. 
Under whatever plan proposed, is supervision worth 
its cost.? Hitherto there has been no answer to this 
question supported by adequate evidence in concrete, 
scientific form. There has been no definite, measurable 
comparison of the progress of children and teachers 
who were supervised and of those who were unsuper- 
vised under conditions otherwise the same. 

The two problems, that of the worth of supervision 
and that of a plan of supervision sufficiently definite 
to measure the results of its operation were inseperably 
connected. The worth of supervision could not be 

I 



2 THE VAI^Ui; OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 

determined without an adequate plan for supervision, 
and such a plan could not be tested as to its worth 
without means for measuring school progress, thereby 
ascertaining whether there were values assignable to 
the supervision. Fortunately, we have now reached a 
point in the development of measurements in some 
school achievements which makes comparisons in prog- 
ress possible. 

Professor Pittman has succeeded in devising a "Zone 
Plan" of supervision by which he has been enabled to 
supervise a group of representative country schools 
much more intensely than is usual, and to measure the 
result of such supervision. For comparison he has 
had an equally representative group of relatively unsu- 
pervised schools with conditions other than those of 
supervision approximately the same. 

The results are highly gratifying. Positive values 
of supervision, sufficiently substantial to give them 
much weight have been demonstrated. The plan 
devised has been found practicable and not sufficiently 
expensive to make it prohibitive. 

While the advances in school progress clearly assign- 
able to supervision constitute the most definitely scien- 
tific evidence of the values of supervision, the evidences 
through the increased interest in school life by the 
children, the development of wider cooperation between 
home and school, the more intelligent and sympathetic 
interest of parents in education, and the enlarged 
professional spirit and growth of the teachers are all 
of significance in attesting the values of the work. 
These evidences are not yet measurable by reference 
to standards as are gains in the school subjects used 



INTRODUCTION 3 

as bases of measurement. But that such evidences, 
when described, are clearly appreciable as quantitative- 
ly larger than the same types of interest and activity in 
unsupervised schools adds materially to the sense of 
value of supervision. 

In the plan used, there are elements of supervision 
which are distinctly new and which commend them- 
selves as highly worth while. The direct contact of 
the supervisor with both children and parents as well 
as with teachers is a feature of supervision in which 
Professor Pittman has made a pioneer contribution. 
He appealed to worthy incentives of both children and 
parents which elicited their cooperation and support 
in promoting the educational progress of the children 
and the community, both in school and out of school. 
The plan which he devised and employed makes this 
possible as no other general plan of county or district 
supervision has done. The experiment has therefore 
yielded two distinct though vitally related contribu- 
tions to the field of country school supervision — scien- 
tific evidence that supervision has positive values in a 
degree worth while, and a plan that is both practicable 
and educationally commendable. 

This plan of supervision requires the expenditure of 
more money than is usually devoted to rural supervi- 
sion. But this is also true of any plan of successful 
supervision of rural schools. There are very few coun- 
ties or districts in the United States in which there is 
an adequate number of supervisors to give proper help 
to the schools under any plan. By this Zone Plan, 
together with the methods of supervision employed by 
Professor Pittman, the cost would be as low as that 



4 THE VALUE OE SCHOOL SUPERVISION 

of any plan yet devised, and it has the virtue of tested 
efficiency which gives reasonable promise that the 
money spent will bring results well worth all that they 
cost. 

District, county, and state superintendents should 
find this study of great value in working out their 
problems of rural supervision. The evidence which 
it contains should help them materially in convincing 
the authorities, whose financial support they must 
secure, of the values of supervision and of the practi- 
cability of a plan that has been found to work with 
demonstrated success. The experiment and its results 
inspire one with optimism and a renewed hope that 
the difficult and pressing problem of rural supervision 
has been brought very near to a satisfactory solution. 

The country schools and the country school authori- 
ties are placed under great obligation to Professor 
Pittman for his plan and the demonstration of its 
efficiency. All interested in elementary school super- 
vision are indebted to the study as furnishing positive 
evidence of the values of supervision in terms that 
are measurable and in degrees of worth sufficient to 
justify its reasonable cost. 

FREDERICK G. BONSER 

Teachers College, 

Columbia University 



Chapter I 

TKE PROBLEM, THE METHOD, AND THE 

RESULTS STATED 

A. the: problem 

Does the supervision of schools pay? If so, to what 
extent, in what ways and under Vv^hat condition? 

These are questions which the school administrators, 
the teachers and the taxpayers of America have been 
asking with increasing earnestness and frequency dur- 
ing recent years. 

With a view to giving at least partial answers to 
these important educational questions, the investiga- 
tion uiscussed in the following pages was undertaken. 
Since it was necessary to limit the scope of the inves- 
tigation, it was restricted to the following question : 

IVhat is the effect of supervision upon the zuork of 
rural schools zvhen the supervision is done' according 
to the Zone Plan? 

(The Zone Plan will be described later) 

B. the; method 

The equivalent groups method was used in conduct- 
ing the experiment upon which this discussion is based. 
The method is a familiar one to those acquainted with 
educational investigation. To others it is sufficient to 
say that two groups whose equivalence is determined, 
or whose difference is evaluated and allowed for, are 
compared in their ability to perform certain work. 
Ideally, the only element of difference between the 

5 ■ • 



6 the; value: op school supervision 

two groups is the one factor, the effect of which is 
being tested. In practice, this cannot always be abso- 
lutely the case but the differences can be determined 
in advance of the experiment and taken into account 
in evaluating the results. 

In this experiment the standings of the children in 
thirteen school functions were determined in the early 
days of October 1919 for both groups, the experimen- 
tal (the group under investigation) and the control 
(the group with which the experimental was com- 
pared). This was followed by seven months of super- 
vision of the school work of the experimental group 
only. The standings of the two groups were again 
determined in May, 1920. The differences in the 
amounts of improvements made by the two groups in 
the functions under investigation during the interven- 
ing seven months were credited to the effect of super- 
vision. 

C. THE RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS 

I. Results. The results of supervision in the ex- 
periment hereafter described were positive in the par- 
ticulars and to the extent stated below : 

(a) Children in the supervised schools, when 
measured by equated differences and by percentages 
of progress of the experimental group measured in 
terms of progress of the control group, advanced 
approximately 194 per cent, as far during the seven 
months in the particular functions under investigxation 
as did the children with whom they were conipared. 

(b) Upon this as a basis and assuming the social 
value of this type of educational material, the value of 



THE PROBIvEM 7 

the service of one supervisor, who would produce such 
a difference in the total results of the school work for 
forty-five schoolrooms similar to those supervised, 
would be $45,102.15 per school year for that service 
alone. 

(c) The teachers under supervision did, approxi- 
m^ately, four times as much professional reading" as 
they themselves had done during the previous year and 
four times as much as the group of teachers with whom 
they were compared during the year of the experiment. 

(d) The average attendance, measured in terms of 
total enrollment,' was 76 per cent for the year in the 
supervised schools as against 70.7 per cent, in the 
unsupervised schools. 

(e) In the schools under supervision all of the 
children in the grades from three to eight, inclusive, 
made excellent progress with greater gains usually in 
the lower grades. In the schools not having super- 
vision, the children in the grades below the seventh 
did not make the progress which might have been 
expected if the progress of the seventh and eighth 
grades were taken as a standard by which to compare 
them. 

(f) Supervision served to keep in school childreir 
who were in the seventh and eighth grades. Of the 
children who entered those grades of the supervised 
schools, 92 per cent continued in school to the end of 
the year. In the unsupervised schools, only 69 per 
cent completed the school year. 

(g) Supervision promoted the social life of the 
community. 



8 THE value; of school supervision 

2. Supplementary Related Conclusions. 

(a) While supervision gave positive results in sub- 
jects supervised, it did not interfere with the progress 
of subjects not especially supervised. 

(b) In order to get the best results from super- 
vision, the attention of all concerned must be centered 
upon the particular phases which it is desired to 
improve. 



Chapter II 

DETERMINING CONDITIONS OF THE 
EXPERIMENT 

A. THE CONDITIONS REQUIRED 

Having decided to test the value of supervision of 
rural schools, to find a suitable place for conducting 
the experiment was the first problem which confronted 
the writer. Three conditions seemed necessary in 
order that the experiment might result in a successful 
performance, provide reliable data, and yield results 
of educational significance. These three conditions 
were : 

1. The supervisor must have freedom to conduct 
the experiment according to conditions necessary for 
its scientific success. For this, two groups of schools 
having practical equivalence in all particulars, except 
the one factor of supervision, were required. What 
was done with the supervised schools should not be 
known or copied by the unsupervised schools. 

2. The co-operative assistance of competent edu- 
cators was necessary at the time of administering and 
scoring the tests. 

3. A territory, genuinely rural in character, was 
desired. The schools should be small, far apart, and 

•taught by teachers no more efficient than the average 
rural teachers of the nation. The weather conditions 
should be such as to test the determination of the super- 
visor. The travel conditions should be as difficult as 
that confronting the average supervisor of rural 
schools in any section of America. 

9 



10 TH^ VALUE OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 

B. the; required conditions eound in brown coun- 
ty, SOUTH DAKOTA 
All of the conditions set forth above were happily 
met in Brown County, South Dakota. 

1. Through the co-operation ot Miss Lucile Trott, 
the county superintendent of schools, the writer was 
privileged to conduct the experiment according to con- 
ditions mentioned in "A" above. Because of the large 
number of schools in the county and the lack of field 
deputies, Miss Trott was unable to make more than 
one visit to each school during the year. This visit 
was made to the supervised and unsupervised schools 
alike. No other supervisory assistance was given by 
the superintendent to the schools ot either group except 
that which was given through the regular institutes 
which were given to all teachers alike. Miss Trott 
very kindly gave permission to work with the teachers 
and children in any way which would improve the 
character of the work. 

2. Through the co-operative assistance of President 
H. W. Foght and the faculty of the Northern Normal 
and Industrial School and of the county superintendent, 
sufficient competent assistance was provided for admin- 
istering the tests and scoring the papers. This assist- 
ance was rendered at such times and in such quantities 
as to give the most reliable statistical data. 

3. Brown County, outside of the town of Aberdeen, 
is genuinely rural territory. A very large percentage 
of the schools of the county are one-teacher schools. 
They are located, on an average, about four miles 
apart. The one-teacher schools have an enrollment of 
from six to twenty pupils with an average of about 



CONDITIONS OF THE EXPE;riMENT II 

twelve. The teachers of these schools are usually 
young with 'limited training and experience. In order 
that the travel conditions in Brown County during the 
year of the experiment may be known, the following 
facts are given : The temperature ranged continuously 
below fieezing from October 25th to March 20th. A 
zero temperature or lower was registered during much 
of the time. The roads were impassable for anything 
but sleighs during several weeks of this time because 
of drifted snow. Travel was very difficult during the 
first month after the spring thaw. 



Chapter III 
THE EQUIVALENCE OF GROUPS 

A. I.OCATION OF TWO GROUPS COMPARE;d 

Two groups of schools located in Brown County 
were' selected for comparison. One group, known 
throughout this discussion as the experimental group, 
was composed of fifteen schoolrooms located south of 
Aberdeen. Another group, known throughout this 
discussion as the control group, consisted of twenty- 
five schoolrooms located north of Aberdeen. The 
writer was told by the county superintendent that in 
so far as she could tell the two groups were very much 
alike, with no advantage to either. They were arbi- 
trarily selected, therefore, being the fifteen schoolrooms 
most closely situated to each other in the one group 
and the twenty-five schoolrooms most closely situated 
to each other in the other group. The schools which 
formed the experimental group were located within 
an area whose measure was eight miles by twelve 
miles. The schools which formed the control group 
were within an area whose extent was about twice the 
size of that of the experimental group. 

B. PARTICULARS IN WHICH GROUPS WERE COMPARED 

In order to determine the extent of equivalence of 
the schools which formed the two groups, comparisons 
were made in the following particulars : 

1. Types of schools. 

2. Length of school terms. 

3. Social and economic status of communities. 

12 



the; equivai^ence; of groups 13 

4. Parentage of children — nationality, educa- 

tion, wealth. 

5. Character of teachers employed — age, edu- 

cation, experience, certification and sal- 
ary. 

I. Types of Schools — Of the fifteen schoolrooms 
in the experimental group, eleven were one-teacher 
schools, four were in two-teacher schools. Of the 
twenty-five schoolrooms in the control group, fifteen 
were one-teacher schools, ten were in two-teacher 
schools. From another study made by comparing the 
work in all of the one-teacher schools in the two groups 
with the work in all of the two-teacher schools, the 
writer found that the work in the two-teacher schools 
was superior to that in the one-teacher school. 

The study upon which this conclusion was based 
compared 194 children in twenty-eight one-teacher 
schools with 182 children in fourteen schoolrooms in 
two-teacher schools. The children were compared by 
one test in each of thirteen functions. Out of a total of 
seventy-eight median scores, the scores of the two- 
teacher school group were equal or superior to the 
scores of the one-teacher school group fifty-eight times. 

From the results of this related study of the same 
children who are involved in the expperiment under 
discussion, the writer concludes that whatever advan- 
tage there was to one of the groups — the experimental 
or the control — the advantage in this particular was 
with the control group. This is true because a larger 
percentage of the children of the control group was 
in two-teacher schools than there was in the schools 
of the experimental group. 



14 The value oe school supervision 

Considered from the point of view of the amount of 
taxable property supporting each child in school, the 
schools of the control group were also better situated. 
For each child enrolled in the schools of the experi- 
mental group, there was assessed property to the extent 
of $26,940.00, while for the children of the control 
groiip there was a property valuation for each child 
of $32,310.00, giving an advantage to the control 
group of $5,362.00 per child. 

2. Length of School Terms — The control group 
had considerable advantage in the length of school 
terms. Seventy-six per cent of the schools of the 
control group had nine months terms while only sixty 
per cent of the schools in the experimental group had 
nine months terms. All of the other schools of both 
groups had eight months terms. The effect of longer 
school terms of previous years, taken with other fac- 
tors of superiority, was quite evident at the time of 
the initial tests, the median scores of the children in 
the control group almost uniformly ranging higher 
than that for the children of like rank in the experi- 
mental group. 

3. Social and Economic Status of Communities — 
The social and economic status of the people living 
in the areas which formed the two groups was very 
similar.- To a casual observer there was practically no 
difference. From the data quoted under the last topic, 
ic appears that there was more wealth per child in the 
area of the control group. This was not perceptible 
to a superficial observer. There were five communi- 
ties in the control group where the people were closely 
enough associated to make two-teacher schools possi- 



THE EQUIVALE:nCE of GROUPS 1 5 

ble, but since the area favored was fully twice that of 
the experimental group area, the advantage in this 
particular was slight. The people living in the two 
groups were removed about an equal distance from 
Aberdeen, the nearest trading center. There seems, 
therefore, no commercial advantage to either group. 

The social life of the people, outside of that provided 
by business contact, consisted chiefly of parties held 
at the homes of the people and of religious services 
conducted at the little centers of population. At no 
place in either area was there a very progressive social 
or religious organization which caused it to be a 
source of special influence. Taking all of the influ- 
ences combined in each group, but slight advantage to 
either group could be seen. 

4. Parentage of the Children — nationality, educa- 
tion, zvealth — The people of Brown County are largely 
of German extraction. To the German element may 
be added about an equal number of people of Scan- 
dinavian and of English origins. The two sections of 
the county used in this experimenv seem to dififer very 
little in this particular. While there was an occasional 
school district in which the people were almost exclu- 
sively of German, Scandinavian, or English origin, 
usually there was a population composed of represent- 
atives of each nationality. 

The educational equipment of the people of the 
county is quite limited. Probably the fourth or fifth 
grade standard would be the average for the academic 
equipment for the adults of the rural sections in both 
groups studied. Of course there .were exceptions. 
There were some men with high school or college 



i6 the; vaivUE of school supervision 

training, but they were very few. A number of the 
women of the rural communities had been teachers 
before they were married. These few better educated 
people could be found in each of the groups studied but 
in neither were they sufficiently plentiful to perceptibly 
aflfect the results. 

In each of the groups, the people were financially 
comfortable. No extereme poverty was anywhere 
manifest. Exactly fifty percent of the patrons of the 
schools in each group owned their homes. The other 
fifty per cent, were renters. It was not evident to the 
casual observer who were renters laid who were owners 
of land. Some difference might be observed if the 
condition of the farm and residential upkeep were 
taken into consideration. It was not evident, though, 
tc anyone who met the people at public gatherings or 
who observed the children in the schools. The renter 
dressed just as well, rode in just as good an automo- 
bile, and used language that was just as nearly correct 
as did the average land owner. Practically all of the 
people were progressing from renters to owners, the 
younger people usually being the renters. 

5. Character of Teachers — Age, education, experi- 
cnce, certification and salary — Important as are the 
four preceding topics discussed, not one of them is so 
important, possibly, to the reliability of the experiment 
as is that of the teacher. Here, again, we shall see 
that whatever advantage there is to one of the groups 
of schools arising out of the character of the teachers 
employed, that advantage accrues to the control group, 
rather than to the experimental. 

As is the case throughout the entire nation, so in 



THE EQUIVALENCE OF GROUPS I7 

Brown County, South Dakota, it is the young teachers 
who teach in the rural districts. In practically every 
one-teacher school in both the experimental and con- 
trol groups, a teacher was in charge who was doing 
her first, second, or third year of teaching. After two 
or three years of experience the rural teacher usually 
marries or becomes a teacher in a school of more than 
one room. Such was the case in the two groups of 
this experiment. In no case was a teacher doing her 
first year of teaching in a two-teacher school. Since 
there was a higher percentage of teachers in two- 
teacher schools in the control group than in the experi- 
mental, it follows that in general a more mature group 
of teachers were teaching in the control than in the 
experimental group. 

The median educational training for the teachers of 
the experimental group was 4.2 years above the eighth 
grade, while the average was 3.74 years. The median 
for the control group was 4.36 years above the eighth 
grade, while the average was 4 years. Here again we 
see that the control group of teachers had a slight 
advantage. 

The median experience of the experimental group 
was 2 years, that is, the median teacher of the group 
was then teaching her second year. The average for 
this group was 4.74, due to the fact that one teacher 
in the group, Mr. Rhoades, was teaching his twenty- 
sixth year. This one case of long experience removed 
the average very far from the median of the group. 
The median experience of the teachers in the control 
group was 2.33 years. The average was 4 years. 
These facts would seem to give a slight advantage to 



i8 the; value; of schooi. supervision 

the control group since the median teacher of that 
group had had one-third of a year of experience more 
than had the median teacher of the experimental group. 

In the matter of certification, the experimental group 
had a slight advantage, since 46 per cent of the teachers 
held first grade certificates and 54 per cent of them 
held second grade certificates, v/hile in the control 
group only 36 per cent held first grade certificates and 
64 per cent held second grade certificates. 

The salaries of the teacheYs average $96.25 per month 
for those in the experimental group and $94.50 for 
those in the control group. This advantage is possibly 
due to considerable increases received by some of the 
teachers of the experimental group during the year — 
due possibly to the interest resulting from the experi- 
nient itself. 

Summing up all of the conditions considered under 
our study of equivalence of groups, we see that the 
differences are not very great. The two groups seemed 
to be equivalent in the nationality and educational 
equipment of the people. Their social and commercial 
opportunities seemed not to differ perceptibly. The 
percentages of land owners and land renters were equal 
in the two groups. 

The experimental group was superior in the certi- 
fication and salary of the teachers. 

The control group had the advantage in having a 
higher percentage of two-teacher schools and a higher 
percentage of its pupils in two-teacher schools. The 
control group had more taxable property for the sup- 
port of each educatble child and a slightly longer 
school term. The teachers of the group had more 
"academic equipment and more experience. 



Chapter IV 
THE ZONE PLAN OF SUPERVISION USED 

A. THE ZONE PIvAN DEFINED 

A plan of supervision in which the supervisor divides 
his entire supervisory district into territorial units, 
each of which serves as the territoral limits for one 
week of supervisory effort has been designated by the 
writer as the zone plan. The purpose back of such 
territorial organization is to provide for systematic 
supej^ivison of classroom instruction, for convenient, 
effective, and democratic teachers' meetings, and for 
the development of a community consciousness on the 
part of rural communities with a view to inspiring and 
facilitating more effective social, educational and com- 
mercial action. Such a plan was used in this experi- 
ment. Since only one week out of each month was 
used by the writer for field service in the capacity of 
supervisor in the performance of the experiment, only 
one zone was used. If full time had been devoted to 
the experiment, three zones of about equal territorial 
area and number of teachers would have been taken as 
the supervisory load. 

B. CALENDAR OE EVENTS FOR THE YEAR 

The zone plan of supervision implies a calendar of 
the major events for the year's work. A college 
announces its calendar of events a year in advance. 
Why should not a supervisory district do so? Such a 
calendar was made for the zone in which this experi- 
ment was conducted. The calendar was made in the 

19 



20 the; value; of schooIv supe;rvision 

early days of September and carried out exactly as 
planned without the change of a single major item. 

Many minor details were introduced from month to 

month. The major plans and dates for the year gave 

stability and continuity to the work. The minor plans 

and dates provided variety and freshness. 

The major events of the zone calendar consisted of 
(i) supervisory tours and (2) teachers' meetings. 

The calendar as made, announced and carried out with 

only a single exception was as follows : 

I. Supervisory Tours 

Sept. 28h to Oct. lOth Initial survey of the experi- 
mental and control groups of 
schools. 

Oct. 27th to Nov. 1st First supervisory tour. Im- 
provement in the speed and 
comprehension of silent read- 
ing. . _ 

Nov. 17th to Nov. 22nd Second supervisory tour. Lan- 
guage : The elimination of 
spoken errors. 

Dec. 15th to Dec. 19th Third supervisory tour. Spell- 
ing : agricultural words as an 
agency for awakening a com- 
munity interest in schools and 
developing a group conscious- 
ness. 

Jan. i8th to Jan 23rd Fourth supervisory tour. Arith- 
metic : how to teach the four 
fundamental operations. 

Feb. 15th to Feb. 19th Fifth supervisory tour. Read- 
ing : how to secure effective 
oral reading. 

March 15th to March 19th Sixth supervisory tour. Lan- 
guage: how to develop a love 
for good literature. Health : 
how to develop the habits of ■ 
health. 

April nth to April 17th Seventh supervisory tour. 

Spelling: forming the habit of 
correctly spelling the words 
most often used. 



the; zone plan of supervision 2i 

2. Teachers' Meetings 

Oct. 4th— First Meeting— at Warner lo A. M. to 3 P. M. 

(a) Grading some standard test papers in reading and 
interpreting the scores. 

(b) Noon. 

(c) Reading demonstration by supervisor suggesting 
methods of increasing speed and comprehension in 
reading. 

(d) Discussion of demonstration. 

Nov. 1st — Second Meeting — at Rondell No. 5, 10 A. M. 
to 3 P. M. 

(a) Demonstrations in reading by three teachers 
showing their methods of improving speed and 
comprehension. 

(b) Discussion of questions on reading developed 
during the month. 

(c) Language demonstration by supervisor. 

(d) Discussion of demonstration. 

(e) Noon — Community dinner. 

(f) Brief talk by supervisor explaining the plans for 
year. 

(g) Songs by children. 
(h) Readings by teachers. 

*Nov. 22nd— Third Meeting— at Highlands, 10 A. M. to 
3 P. M. 

(a) Language teaching demonstrations by three 
teachers. 

(b) Discussion of language problems arising during 
month. 

(c) Spelling teaching demonstration — Supervisor. 

(d) Discussion of demonstration. 

(e) Language games conducted by the children. 

(f) Book Reviews — "The Brown Mouse" and "The 
Fair View Idea," by teachers. 

(g) Humorous readings — Supervisor, 
(h) Group singing. 

Dec. 19th — Fourth Meeting — at Warner, 10 A. M. to 3. P. M. 

(a) Brief reports of language work by teachers. 

(b) Brief demonstration by supervisor of methods of 
teaching fundamental operations in arithmetic. 

(c) Community spelling match in the spelling of 
agricultural words. 

(d) Noon. Zone Community Dinner. 

(e) Zone champions for each subject and grade in- 
troduced. 

(f) Two minute stunts by each school in the zone. 



22 THE VALUE OE SCHOOlv SUPERVISION 

(g) Brief addresses by visiting educators. 
Jan. 24th— Fifth Meeting— at Warner No. i, 10 A. M. to 3 P.M. 

(a) Two arithmetic demonstrations by teachers. 

(b) Discussion of questions on arithmetic arising dur- 
ing the month. 

(c) Demonstration by supervisor in teaching oral 
reading. 

(d) Discussion of demonstration. 

(e) Noon. Community Dinner. 

(f) Penmanship demonstration by specialist. 

(g) Program by children. 

Feb. 2ist — Sixth Meeting — at Warner, No. 2, 10 A. M. to 
3 P. M. 

(a) Demonstrations of teaching oral reading by three 
teachers. 

(b) Discussion of questions arising during the month 
on the teaching of oral reading. 

(c) Demonstration : How to memorize a poem. Miss 
Gallager. 

(d) Demonstration: How to tell a story — Miss Wil- 
liams. 

(e) Noon. Community Dinner. 

(f) Discussion: What I think of supervision. The 
teachers. 

(g) Discussion : What I think of supervision. The 
patrons. 

(h) Discussion: What I think of supervision. The 
supervisor. 
Mar. 20th— Seventh Meeting — at Warner No. 6, 10 A. M. 
to 3 P. M. 

(a) Language teaching demonstrations by three 
teachers. 

(b) Discussion of language question arising during 
month. 

(c) Spelling teaching demonstration by supervisor. 

(d) Discussion of demonstration. 

(e) Noon. Community Dinner. 

(f) Art exhibit and lecture by specialist. 

(g) Discussion : Why we cannot spell. By a specialist. 
(h) Industrial demonstration by children: How we 

make things. 
(This meeting had to' be cancelled because of 
a very deep snow which fell on March 19th.) 
April 17th— Eighth Meeting— at Mansfield, 10 A. M. to 3 P- M. 
(a) Written spelling match between the Blue and 
Whites. 



THE ZONE PLAN OF SUPERVISION 23 

(b) Oral spelling match between the Blue and Whites. 

(c) Noon. Zone Community Dinner. 

(d) Addresses by visiting educators. 

(e) Stunts by the schools of the zone. 

(f) Announcing the winners in the contests. 

C. A SAMPLE SUPERVISORY LETTER 

While the schedule of visits of the supervisor was 
announced at the beginning of the year for the entire 
year, the writer felt that this was not definite enough 
tc serve the best interest of effective supervision. He, 
therefore, sent out a letter about one week in advance 
of his tour each time announcing the details of the 
tour. He gave the exact time that he would arrive at 
each school and the length of time that he would 
devote to each school. About an equal length of time 
was devoted to each school without reference to the 
efficiency of the teacher, the number of children, or 
the character of work found. Reasons for this will 
be discussed in a later section. 

The letter also contained a few pertinent suggestions 
with reference to the subject that would be under 
investigation during the tour. Announcements and 
other matters of general importance to the Zone were 
communicated through the letter. Below is given, as 
an illustration, the first letter announcing the exact 
dates of the supervisor's visits. 

October 20, 1919. 
Dear Teachers : — 

Below is given the schedule for my first regular visit as 
Helping Teacher. I have stated the time just as definitely as 
possible so that there may be as little lost time as possible and 
so that you may be able to present just what you want to 
present when I am with you 
Monday, Oct. 27th, Miss Buchert's school— 10 A. M. to 12 M. 

" , Miss Luke's School— i P. M. to 2 P. M. 

" , Miss Pabst's School— 3 P. M. to 4 P- M. 



24 THE value: oi' school suplrvision 

Tuesday, Oct. 28th, Miss Knudson's School — 10 A. M. to 12 M. 
" " " , Miss Lowe's School — i P. M. to 2:15 

P. M. 
" " " , Miss Wineland's School —2:15 P. M. 

to 4 P. M. 
Wednesday, Oct. 29th, Miss Birdie Williams' School —9 A. M. 

to 10:30 A. M. , 
Wednesday, Oct. 29th, Miss Nolen's School, 11 A. M. to 12 M. 
" , Miss Cox's School — i P. M. to 2 P. M, 
" " " , Miss Schrimp's School — 2 -.30 P. M. to 

4 P. M. 
Thursday, Oct. 20th, Miss Beulah Williams' School — 10 
A. M. to 12 M. 
" " " , Miss Neiger's School — i P. M. to 2 

P. M. 
" " " , Miss Gunderson's School — 2 :30 P. M. 

to 4 P. M. 
Friday, Oct. 31st, Miss Weidebusch's School — 10 A. M. 
to 12 M. 
" " " , Miss Freeman's School — i P. M. to 2:15 

P. M. 
" , Mr. Rhoades' School— 2:15 P. M. to 4 P. M. 
Saturday, Nov. ist, SECOND REGULAR TEACHERS' 
MEETING, HELD AT MISS 
PABST'S SCHOOL, RONDELL 
NO. 5, 10 A. M. to 3 P. M. 
I shall keep the above schedule just as nearly as possible and 
will be at the place named at the appointed hour PROVIDED 
(i) The Ford runs; (2) the temperature is not below zero; 
(3) I am not ill. 

While I am with you, I hope you will teach reading classes. 
If there is any time left, I trust that you will teach a lan- 
guage or grammar lesson. 

I hope you have found the suggestions that were made on 
sheet III distributed at the last teacher's meeting, helpful to 
you during the month. I trust that you have been making notes 
dailv on your efforts, results and observations. 

Will you be good enough to write all questions that you 
wish to ask help on either from me or the other teachers and 
give them to me when I come? This will helo you to write 
out your questions, will help me in studying them and be of 
help to all of the other teachers also. I shall compile all of 
these questions and have them ready for the Teachers' Meet- 
in ?■ on November ist. 

Of course vou are planning to be present at the Teachers' 
Meeting. The last one wag very interesting and profitably. 



THE ZONE PLAN OE SUPERVISION 25 

Let's make each of the others even better. We want 100% 
present EVERY time. That will guarantee successful meet- 
ings. Miss Pabst and her people are to be our hostesses and 
we want to show them how we can show our appreciation. 

Will you please send me an item or two for the Zone Joy 
Maker (Monthly Bulletin) about your school that you think 
might be of some help to other schools and in which your 
own children and community take pride. 

I am looking forward to my visit to your schools with great 
pleasure and am sure I shall see some excellent reading. 
With best wishes, I am 

Yours very truly, 

M. S. PITTMAN, 

Helping Teacher. 

D. WHAT THE SUPERVISOR DID WHILE ON A TOUR 

I. The background and the cutlook for the tour. 
At each teachers' meeting" the supervisor taught a 
demonstration lesson in the subject which would be 
under special investigation during the month immedi- 
atel}' following the meeting. The supervisor's demon- 
stration had for its purpose the setting up of the 
problem for the month. It was not a model lesson 
but a suggestive lesson. There was a particular prob- 
lem to be solved. His demonstration was an attempted 
solution, not a conclusive one. After each demonstra- 
tion there was a conference at which questions were 
asked and difficulties pointed out. 

The teachers went back to their schools and had 
three weeks in which to experiment, read and think 
over the problem before the supervisor would visit 
them. Each teacher was asked to keep her eyes open 
tc difficulties and to discoveries. She was urged to 
experiment, to try her hand at new things. If she 
made a discovery it was to be given to the rest of her 
group, 



26 THE value; of school supervision 

The teacher usually secured the co-operation of the 
children with some such statement as this : 

"Children, what is our subject for special study this 
month." 

"I wonder if we can do that subject better this 
month than we have ever done it before?" 

"Would you like to try some new ways of doing 
it?" 

'Would you like to have the supervisor feel that our 
school can do that subject just as well as any school in 
the zone, or even better than any other?" 

With this background and this outlook the teacher 
and the children set to work. After three weeks of 
work they were prepared to be observed. They had 
lived through, in prospect, the visit of the supervisor. 
They had worked on their subject for a sufficient 
length of time to gain ease in doing what they did and 
to discover the difificulties which they had not yet mas- 
tered. They, both the children and the teacher, looked 
forward to the visit of the supervisor, therefore, as 
an opportunity to be both appreciated and to be helped. 

2. Three or More Recitations of the Same Subject 
Observed. The teacher and tJie children knew in 
advance just when the supervisor would be with them 
and just what particular work he was coming to see. 
All of the people of the school community also knew. 
So did the supervisor know. This unity of purpose 
on the part of all concerned did much to stimulate 
effective work and to clarify the aims and the methods 
of work for all concerned. 

For the purpose of stimulating good work on the 
part of both teachers and children, there is perhaps 



The zone plan oe supervision 27 

110 better means than the approaching visit of the 
supervisor. In the early stages of supervision this 
may cause a little nervousness and may lead to a dispo- 
sition to make an exhibition. These undesirable reac- 
tions soon disappear under sympathetic professional 
treatment and poise of manner and a high standard 
of regular work take their place. 

When the supervisor arrived at the school he was 
asked which class he would like to see first. All classes 
were prepared. Those classes were most happy which 
were called for. Not always did all classes get an 
opportunity to recite during the supervisor's visit. In 
some schools, certain classes were observed in the par- 
ticular subject under investigation and then a class 
or two in some other subject not under investigation 
were observed. This was regulated by the diagnostic 
indications in that particular school. 

As a usual practice, the supervisor observed at least 
three classes in the particular subject under investi- 
gation, one class each from the primary, intermediate 
and grammar sections of the school. This gave a 
good sampling of the school work and provided suf- 
ficient data for a clear diagnosis of the character of 
the work done in that school in that particular subject. 

The supervisor took brief notes, as unobtrusively as 
possible, of the work observed. This was for the 
purpose of living over later the details of what was 
observed and for conferring with the teacher. 

3. Talked to the School — At tl.^e close of the super- 
visor's visit, he usually took about five minutes for 
talking to the school about the work. He desired to 
leave the children and the teacher pleased because of 



28 the; value; o? school suPE;RvisiaN 

the work that they had done well and unsatisfied, not 
dissatisfied, with themselves over the work which they 
had not done so well. The remarks were addressed to 
the children. What was meant for the teacher was 
usually implied in what was said to the children. It 
was constantly the aim of the supervisor to inspire and 
to guide the schools rather than to criticize them. To 
leave the school feeling- that it had done well in certain 
particulars and ambitious to do even better the next 
time in other particulars is, in the writer's opinion, a 
better means through which to secure improvement 
than to leave the school conscious of the supervisor's 
disapproval and crestfallen because of its own failure 

4. Conferred 7mth the Teacher — The supervisor's 
conference with the teacher while visiting the school 
was usually very brief and quite superficial. Only 
those matters of local and immediate importance were 
discussed at the classroom conference. The larger 
matters of professional importance were reserved for 
the general conference to be held with the entire group 
of teachers at the close of the week. (The group 
conference will be discussed later.) The reservation 
of the larger subjects for the general conference stimu- 
lated the attendance of the teacher at the group con- 
ferences. 

5. Played tvith the Children — It is the belief of the 
writer that the children in the schools may be used 
very effectively as one of the agencies of supervision. 
This may be done by making the children aware of 
their standings in the various subjects and what their 
standing is compared with what it should be. When 
this is done, it serves to fix a goal of attainment for 



THE ZONE PLAN OF SUPERVISION 29 

the children. The children thus develop a different 
attitude toward the school, the teacher, and the super- 
visor. 

The confidence and the good will of the children 
must be won and held in order to keep them in this 
attitude toward the school, its vvork and its officials. 
One of the most effective means through which this 
may be done is play. Believing strongly in play as an 
agency through which to get the confidence of the 
children, the writer tried to have at least one game 
with the children upon each visit to the school. Some- 
times it was a game with a pedagogical purpose such 
as a language game, a folk dance, or a physical drill. 
Sometimes it was an indoor game whose only purpose 
was a trick and a laugh. Sometimes it was an outdoor 
''rough and tumble." Sometimes the children served 
as the leaders, sometimes. the writer led the game. 

The play developed a spirit of comradeship which 
carried over from the play to the work. It eliminated 
that reserve and self-consciousness on the part of 
children while in the schoolroom which prevents them 
from doing themselves credit while in the presence of 
visitors. 

6. Visited the People— li the supervisor's visit to 
the school affects only the school, then, one of the 
largest agencies of and for rural betterment has been 
overlooked — the home. It was the writer's hope that 
his visit to a school community might bear the maxi- 
mum of good results. It was with this purpose in 
mind that he advertised the exact date and purpose of 
his visits to the schools. Every parent of the com- 
munity knew exactly when ahd for what purpose the 



30 TH^ value: of school supervision 

supervisor's next visit would be. This made it possible 
for any of them to visit the school at the same time 
the supervisor did, if they so desired. They were 
enabled to confer with him upon any matter with which 
they thought he might give assistance. This informa- 
tion stimulated constant interest on their part in the 
particular work which was being carried forward at 
the school. It provided for a constant change in the 
topics of family and community discussion. 

The supervisor met and visited, briefly, many parents 
while at the school buildings and while traveling along 
the roads. He visited a far greater number, though, 
in their own homes. He always had more invitations 
than he could accept to visit in the homes of the people. 
It was while on these visits that the close personal 
friendships were formed, educational possibilities were 
discussed, and support for progressive school measures 
was secured. 

E. WHAT WAS DONE AT THE GROUP TEACHERS' MEET- 
INGS 

The group meetings of the teachers held monthly 
had a number of purposes. The major purpose, of 
course, was the professional improvement of the teach- 
ers. The meetings were held on Saturdays, with one 
exception — ^December. Attendance was entirely volun- 
tary. The meetings began at lo a. m. and closed at 3 
p. m. From io-to-12 was devoted strictly to the pro- 
fessional part of the program and was attended only 
by the teachers and such children as were present for 
demonstration purposes. The afternoon session from 
i-to-3 was devoted to work of a less professional 
nature and had for its purpose the entertainment of 



fHE zone; plan of suPERvigioN 31 

the general audience. The forenoon part of the pro- 
gram usually consisted of ( i ) a teaching demonstra- 
tion by the supervisor, (2) a conference based upon 
his demonstration, (3) a teaching demonstration by 
two classroom teachers and (4) a conference based 
upon their demonstrations, (5) a summary discussion 
o-f the subject under investigation. 

I. The Supervisor's Demonstration — The purpose 
of the supervisor's demonstration was to initiate the 
next subject to be emphasized by the group. The 
special problem for the month was set by means of a 
brief duscussion led by the supervisor. His demon- 
stration, then, was an attempt to suggest a way by 
which that problem might be solved. The following 
instance will illustrate this point. 

As stated in an earlier section of this chapter, the 
first part of the first group meeting of the teachers 
held on October 4th was devoted to the scoring of 
some of the standard tests in reading given just a few 
days before in the schools in which the teachers taught. 
The teachers were not familiar with standard tests. 
They did not know how fast children could be expected 
to read silently and how well they could be expected to 
understand the things they read. By the time the 
teachers had each scored a few papers and the scores 
had been_aranged into a table of distribution, with the 
quartiles, medians, and averages located, the whole 
problem of teaching silent reading began to dawn upon 
them. They saw that some children were reading four 
times as rapidly as others in the same grade. They 
began to see that the rapid readers were usually the 
ones whose comprehension was highest. The natural 



3;^ the; value; of school supLrvisioi^ 

question, then, was "How can the speed and compre- 
hension of silent reading be increased?" To answer 
this question then became the major aim of the teachers 
for the next month. 

As a further preparation of the teachers for the 
observation and criticism of a recitation in silent read- 
ing the following general suggestions were distributed 
and discussed briefly before the demonstration was 
given : 

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS ON READING IN THE 
PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
M. S. PiTTMAN, Helping-Teacher, Brown County, S. D. 
Silent Reading 
Authorities declare : 

1. That we do much more silent than oral reading. 

2. That school practice usually retards rapid, thoughtful 
silent reading, because : 

(1) The school does not give sufficient emphasis to 
speed and thought getting in silent reading. 

(2) Schoolroom practice fixes a very slow reading rate. 

(3) It too often fixes the habit of lip reading. 

(4) The limits of the lessons are so fixed that it 
often deadens interest in reading. 

(5) It destroys the child's initiative. 

(6) It too often fixes the habit of overlooking the 
thought and centers the attention upon less im- 
portant details. 

3. That silent reading can be MUCH more rapid, than oral 
reading. " 

4. That rapid readers can reproduce much more of what 
they read than slow readers can and do it with a higher 
percentage of accuracy. 

If these assertions are true, we should give more thought 
and time to teaching silent reading and less to teaching the 
type of lessons of which the critics complain. 

In our silent reading we should have two big purposes : 

1. To develop speed. 

2. To develop power in thought getting. 
How to secure these : 

I. Use literature that is easy for the reader, 



the; zone; plan of" supervision 33 

2. Use literature that has a strong appeal for the 
reader, 

3. Have contests for speed and thought getting, 

4. Have large lesson or story aims, 

5. Have small paragraph or special thought aims. 
When the essential phases of the preceding sugges- 
tions had been located, the supervisor distributed to 
the teachers the following brief outline of the lesson 
which he would teach. The teachers were requested 
to follow the outline as they observed the recitation. 

TO ILLUSTRATE HOW TO SECURE RAPID THOUGHTFUL SILENT 
READING 

Text: Baldwin & Bender's Fifth Reader, Pg. 216-221. 

Lesson Title: WHO IS THE HAPPIEST MAN? 

Words to be presented : Croesus, Solon, Tellus, Cyrus, pyre. 

Children's general aim : To find who is he happiest man 
and why. 

Children's specific aim: To find the answers to the follow- 
ing questions in the shortest possible time. 

1. To whom is a wealthy man compared? 

2. What did King Croesus say of himself? 

3. To whom is a wise man compared? 

4. What question did Croesus ask Solon as they dined 
together ? 

5. Why did Solon think that Tellus was so deserving of 
happiness ? 

6. Who did Solon think were the next happiest? Why? 

7. How did Solon say we could tell when a man is 
happy and why? 

8. ■ What order did King Cyrus give his soldiers about 

Croesus? 

9. What did the savage soldier say as he ran for a torch? 
10. What did Croesus exclaim as he lay on the pyre? 

II. How did Cyrus decide to treat Croesus and why? 

2. Conference on Supervisor's Demonstration — Af- 
ter the lesson was completed, a brief conference was 
held. The following are some of the questions asked 
and discussed : 

I. I noticed that Clifford was always the first child 
to find the answer to the question. Would not this 



34 the; vai,us op schooi, supervision 

make him vain? Should he be in this class in reading? 

2. I noticed that Mary was always the last one to 
find the answer. Would this not tend to discourage 
her? Should she be in this class in reading? 

3. What should be done to bring the slow pupils up 
to the speed of the rapid ones? 

4. What should be done with the rapid ones while 
the teacher is working with the slow ones? 

Other questions were asked but these are sufficient 
to show that the group was gettiag at the heart of the 
problems which confront the teacher of silent reading. 

3- Suggestions for the] Folloiving Month — ^This 
meeting closed by the supervisor giving to the teachers 
the following list of suggestions for their guidance 
during the following month. 

BROWN COUNTY HELPING-TEACHER DISTRICT 

M. S. PiTTMAN, Helping Teacher 

Suggestions to Guide the Work in Reading During Month 
of October 4 — November i 

1. Study very carefully the S. D. Course of Study. It is 
EXCELLENT. We should know ALL that it says on 

Reading. 

2. In addition to the Course of Study, each teacher should 
study carefully at least one of the books listed below. 

3. Become thoroughly conscious that our problem is to 
teach the child (a) how to get the thought for himself 
from the printed page and do it easily, rapidly and 
thoroughly; (b) how to give the thought to others in 
an effective and pleasing manner. 

4. Since SILENT reading is used more in every-day life 
than ORAL reading, we should cultivate great skill in 
silent reading. Let's make efficient silent reading our 
major interest for the next month. 

5. Keep constantly in mind your problem, your aim, in the 
teaching of reading. Vary your devices for accom- 
plishing your aim. 

6. Keep notes on each new device you use as to its suc- 
cess or failure. Explain its results to yourself. Writ- 



the: zone plan of supervision 35 

ten notes made at the close of each day on your ef- 
forts will help to clarify your thinking and. will aid you 
in setting up new standards. 

7. When you find a good device, work it HARD until 
you become expert in its application. Keep daily notes 
on your own growth in its use. 

8. Jot down daily knotty questions that trouble you and 
ask the counsel of the helping-teacher when he comes. 

9. Put down each day some question that you would 
like to have answered at the next teachers' meeting. 

10. Take note of any new solutions to your problems so that 
you can give them to the other teachers of the group. 

11. Remember if you hope to develop speed in the reading 
of your children, you must 

(a) Provide material that is easy for them to read, 

(b) Provide material that is very interesting to them, 

(c) Have sufficient periods in which you test their 
power to get thought speedily. 

(d) Your personal experimentation in this work will 
aid you in teaching. 

What is your own rate of silent reading? Are YOU up to 
standard? 
SUGGESTED READING FOR THE MONTH: 

1. Teaching Children to Read — Klapper. 

2. Special Methods for Reading for the Grades — 
McMurry 

3. Reading — How to Teach It — Arnold. 

4. Reading in Public Schools — Briggs and Cofifman. 

4. Primary Reading — Mcthod\s of Teaching in Ten Cities 
— Educational Pub. Co. 

6. Five Messages to Teachers of Primary Reading — 
Sawyer. 

7. The Story in Primary Reading — Van Ambaugh. 

8. The Dramatic Method of Teaching — Finlay-Johnson. 

9. How to Teach Reading — Hall. 

10. Ho7(.' to Teach the Fundam,ental Subjects — ^^Kendall 
and Mirick. 

11. Teaching the Common Branches — Charters. 

12. The Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading — Huey. 

The plan of procedtire above detailed is illustrative 
of the part which the supervisor performed each month 
in connection with each new subject taken up for study. 
Such a detailed statement might be given for all of the 
seven group conferences but it seems superfluous. 



36 the; value: of school suplrvision 

4. De'monstration Teaching by the Teacher — ^After 
four weeks of experimentation and practice upon the 
subject demonstrated by the supervisor, two teachers 
usually would teach a lesson in the same subject for 
the observation of the group. 

On November ist, four weeks r.fter the supervisor's 
demonstration discussed above, three of the teachers 
of the group, Misses Luke, Wineland, and Pabst, 
taught lessons for the observation of the group illus- 
trating the devices which they had used during the 
month in order to improve the speed and comprehen- 
sion of children in the art of silent reading. 

Miss Pabst taught a third grade class, Miss Wine- 
land a fifth grade, and Miss Luke an eighth grade. 

5. Sununary Discussion of Silent Reading — The 
particular demonstrations were not discussed in detail 
as was the demonstration of the supervisor the pre- 
vious month, but a general summary discussion of 
silent reading was had. This discussion was based 
upon a composite list of questions which had been con- 
tributed by the various teachers. The questions were 
answered in the light of the supervisor's and the teach- 
ers' demonstrations, the four weeks of classroom trial, 
and the reading and thinking that had' been done 
during the month. The followinjg questions con- 
stituted the list : 

(a) In just what particulars is a recitation which 
has for its special purpose the development of speed 
and comprehension superior to the usual "Read next" 
type of recitation? 

(b) If a child, in order to gain in speed, fails to 
get the thought, what is to be done? 



THE ZONE PLAN OP SUPERVISION 37 

(c) If a child reads very slowly and still fails to 
get the thought, what is the cause? What is the 
remedy ? 

(d) Which is the best method by which to improve 
the speed and comprehension in silent reading — read- 
ing from a regular text in class, reading other ma- 
terial such as newspapers, or reading books at home? 
What is the service to be rendered by each of these? 

(e) Where there is only one child in a class, what 
can be substituted for the rivalry for developing speed 
in reading? 

(f) What are the principal causes for slow read- 
ing? How may the particular causes that afifect each 
child be located? When they have been located, how 
ir the best way to use that knowledge to improve the 
speed of the child? 

P. DISCUSSION OP teacher's CLASSROOM AND DEMON- 
STRATION TEACHING 

In general, critical discussion of lessons observed 
was undertaken in the group meetings only. The dis- 
cussions in the individual classrooms were of minor 
consequence, usually encouraging in tone, and but pre- 
liminary to the thorough-going analysis and discussion 
of the group conference. The writer adopted this 
procedure for the following reasons : 

I. Limitations of the individual conference — When 
the supervisor visited the school, the situation was 
rarely such as to make an individual conference with 
the teacher satisfactory or productive of the greatest 
results, because 



38 THE value: of school supervision 

(a) The time available was too limited. 

(b) The physical situation was not conducive to 
professional poise. The children were usually present. 
There were many other matters which the teacher had 
ir mind— the conduct of the children, the temperature 
of the schoolroom, etc. 

(c) Intellectually, the teacher was probably unpre- 
pared for full appreciation of any suggestion which 
might be given that had any psychological or peda- 
gogical depth. 

(d) The mind set of the teacher was not such as 
to make most profitable an individual conference based 
upon her own teaching. 

2. Advantages of the group conference — In view 
of those limitations, the supervisor endeavored to sup- 
ply the greater part of the necessary professional 
guidance through group conferences. The group con- 
ference professionalizes the discussion of teaching 
method in a way that is practically impossible in the 
individual conference. This is especially true when 
the individual conference is held at the teacher's own 
school immediately after the supervisor's observation 
of her work. The distinct advantages of the group 
conference were : 

(a) There was sufficient time to concentrate upon 
a professional problem, come to realize its nature, 
depth, and some of the possible methods of procedure 
for its solution. 

(b) The physical situation was conducive to con- 
centrated and continued thought upon the problem. 

(c) The mind set of the teachers and the supervisor 
was such as to welcome the presentation and discus- 
sion of the knotty problems of classroom method. 



the; zone; plan o? supervision 39 

(d) Freed from the responsibilities of the class- 
room, equipped with one month of professional reading 
and classroom practice in connection with the idea 
under discussion, the teacher was intellectually pre- 
pared for an intelligent consideration and discussion 
of the problem. 

(e) Since whatever was done was done explicitly 
for the entire group, the demonstrations and discus- 
sions were freed from the personal elements which 
might have entered to embarrass the teacher or the 
supervisor and thereby check the frankest discussion 
of the problem. 

(f) By means of demonstration for the group and 
discussion by "the group, the educational principles were 
stripped of the personal bias that would enter to limit 
the discussion in an individual conference. 

(g) In the group conference the teachers them- 
selves were the critics instead of the supervisor. This 
not only' relieved the supervisor of the possible odium 
arising from his criticism but it added power to the 
teachers. 

(h) The group conference developed an esprit de 
corps among the teachers which the exclusive use of 
the individual conference would not have made pos- 
sible. 

(i) The greatest stimulus to professional reading 
came through the group conference. When one 
teacher saw another teacher take a professional book 
to read during the month, she was disposed to do like- 
wise. When one teacher heard another make an excel- 
lent report of some book which she had read, or use 
to good advantage some point which had been gleaned 



40 TH^ VALUE OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 

from a book recently read, she also was fired to similar 
purposeful reading. 

(j) The group conference generally led to a more 
satisfactory individual conference, subsequently, than 
v/ould have been possible otherwise. Afer the teacher 
had the principle fixed in her mind upon which the 
group was working, she was then usually anxious to 
get definite help and suggestion so that she might put 
into practice what she had come to understand in prin- 
ciple. She had a professional background suitable for 
making a personal conference not only profitable but 
thoroughly, pleasant both to herself and the supervisor. 

(k) Finally, the group conference was a great 
time saver for both the teachers and the supervisor. 
Within two hours of demonstration for and discussion 
by the group, the entire group of fifteen teachers had 
fixed in mind principles that it would have taken each 
one, working separately, much longer to grasp. 



Chapte;r V 

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES OF THE 
SUPERVISOR 

In addition to the work which the supervisor did 
with the teachers and the children, which had for its 
immediate purpose the improvement of the character 
of the school work, the sueprvisor participated in 
other activities, the purpose of which was to stimulate 
and help the social and economic life of the community. 
The purpose of such stimulation and help was to 
increase the service of the school and to win for the 
school a more intelligent and whole-hearted support. 
These activities were along six lines : 

A. VISITS IN THE HOMES OF THE PEOPEE 

The writer believes that the best results can be 
obtained in the supervision of the schools only when 
the people understand what is being undertaken. With 
the purpose of informing the people and with enlisting 
their interest and co-operation, he decided to visit them 
in their homes. He announced early in the year that 
he wanted to visit the patrons. He wanted to take a 
meal or sleep at the home of every child in the zone. 
By actual count, he did succeed in doing so in fifty 
per cent of the homes of the zone. 

The visit in the home served as particularly illumin- 
ating to the supervisor. He saw what the economic 
status of the family was. He learned something of 
the family history. He came to understand its social 
outlook. He discovered the particular interests of the 
children in a way that mere schoolroom observations 

41 



42 the; value; of schooIv supe;rvision 

could never reveal. He entered into friendly relation 
with all of the members of the family. He was 
mitiated into the home life and after that his interest 
seemed to become their interest. Their interest became 
his guide to effective work. The visit was the shuttle 
which knit their several interests into a consistent edu- 
cational purpose for the community. What they 
needed determined his action. What he desired became 
to them a command for support. This relation could 
scarcely be developed or maintained without the 
friendly visit of the supervisor in the homes of the 
people. 
B. THE SCHOOL ne;wspape;r for thf zone 

As one of the means by which the supervisor in- 
formed the people of the educational situation, its 
needs and its achievements, he used a little paper 
which, for the purpose of appealing to the children, 
was called "The Joy Maker." 

In this little paper he presented, in very simple terms 
which the smallest child could understand, the aims for 
the year's work. Here was published the results of the 
initial survey of the schools with the scores of every 
child so that he and his family could see how he ranked 
with every other child of his age and grade in the 
entire zone. This was explained in terms such that 
the third grade children could understand them. They 
understood it so well that any child could tell how he 
ranked as compared to the median of his grade in all 
of the thirteen functions in which he was examined. 
In the paper were published the news items of interest 
about each school in the zone. The teachers' meetings, 
the visits of the supervisor to the homes of the people, 



COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES OF THE SUPERVISOR 43 

the community meetings held at any school building, 
and all such items were told about in this little papeT. 

One copy of the paper was sent to every home in 
the zone where there were children. There were a 
number of requests for it in homes from which there 
were no children in the school. The supervisor de- 
livered the papers while on his supervisory visits to the 
schools. 

The school newspaper seems to have been one of the 
most effective agencies of supervision used by the su- 
pervisor. In order to get an estimate of the services 
which it rendered, the county superintendent sent out 
a questionnaire to the teachers in which she asked what 
service it rendered. The following are some of the 
replies : 

'T find that most of the parents themselves read 'The 
Joymaker,' but as some of them cannot read Eng- 
lish very well, I urge the pupils to take turns in read- 
ing it to their parents." 

"The publication of this little paper, 'The Joy Ma- 
ker," helps to keep every one interested in the work. 
The children are simply delighted to see their names 
or something about their school in this paper. I find 
that the parents are just as pleased as the children are." 

"I know some people who read more English when 
they read 'The Joy Maker' than they do during the 
rest of the month put together." 

The supervisor felt that it served to introduce the 
people and the progress of one school community to 
all of the other school communities in the zone. He 
felt that through it the community was prepared for 
any approaching event that was to occur later. The 



44 THE VALUE OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 

entire zone was, as a result of the little paper, not only 
reviewing the events of the past and understanding the 
happenings of the present, but it was living, educa- 
tionally, in the future. If the old statement is true 
that anticipation is more delightful than realization, 
the school people have been very remiss in the past in 
that they have not made large enough factor of antici- 
pation. "The Joy Maker" made anticipation, perhaps, 
the largest element of the school work. As the writer 
recalls the year's work, he feels that he heard more 
expressions of joy arising out of the things which came 
as a result of the school paper than from any other 
phase of his work. 

The humorous supplement to the paper ("The Smil- 
ing Sheet") was another means for educational propa- 
ganda. In it were presented little educational sermons 
in humorous fashion. Each month's issue carried a 
theme — presented in cartoon form. School buildings 
were presented one month. At other times school at- 
tendance, the shifting of teachers, the hospitality of the 
people and such ideas were dealth with. The peiple, in 
general, enjoyed the humorous section of the paper and 
saw the serious point presented by it. 

C. SOCIAL PHASES OF THE TEACHERS' MEETINGS 

The teachers' meetings had a purpose beyond the 
improvement of the technique of teaching. The im- 
provement of technique of teaching was the chief pur- 
pose and was the idea around which the program was 
made, but it was not the sole purpose. Community 
attitude toward education is as important as the teach- 
ers' technique. Each meeting of the teachers, there- 



COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES OF* THE SUPERVISOR 45 

fore, was so arranged that the educational attitude of 
some community might be influenced. 

The place of the meeting was changed each time. 
There were eight meetings during the year. Seven 
communities served as the hosts for these meetings. 
The place was determined by invitation. There were 
more invitations than there were meetings. 

The professional part of the meeting started at 10 
a. m. on Saturday morning and continued until noon. 
At noon the people of the community in which the 
meeting was being held came and brought dinner for 
the crowd. The noon hour was always a delightful 
one, not only because of the bountiful and delightful 
dinner served, but because of the cordiality of the 
people. 

The afternoon meetings were for the pleasure and 
inspiration of the people of the community. To this 
the teachers, children, outside speakers, and the people 
themselves contributed. Usually some theme of rural 
interest was discussed as a part of the program. To 
these meetings came some of the leading educators of 
the state as speakers. When the meetings first began 
there was a timidity on the part of the teachers, chil- 
dren, and people, but much of this was overcome be- 
fore the year ended. Many of them came to have an 
ease characteristic of people accustomed to participa- 
tion in public discussion. 

D. THE "health and HAPPINESS^" MEETINGS 

In connection with the county health forces the su- 
pervisor made a health survey of his district during 
the month of March, 1920. "The Joy Maker" for the 



46 the; VAtui; of school supervision 

month of February had prepared the pubHc for this 
survey. It had presented the need for knowledge of 
the situation. It had boosted the work that was being 
done by the Health Crusaders. It had given good 
health recipes in the form of rhymes. It had presented 
through the humorous section of the zone paper the 
difference between the sickly and the healthy child. 

Five meetings had been planned for in various parts 
of the zone, one for each school night of the week. 
There had been some discussion of the approaching 
event at the teachers' meeting in February. Language 
was the school subject which was to be emphasized 
during the month of March, but health was the sub- 
ject which motivated practically all of the language 
work. In a variety and number of ways the subject of 
health had been presented. The teachers had ar- 
ranged for the entertainment of the surveying party of 
five in advance of the visit. The entertainment was 
so arranged that just as many homes as possible were 
reached by the members of the party. The object of 
this was to educate the people by contact with them. 

Every child was given a very careful examination 
and a report was made to his home. In the zone news- 
paper for the following month a detailed report was 
also given. 

The night meetings at the school buildings were 
all very successful. An average of seventy-five per 
cent, of all of the people of each school community 
attended one of these meetings. 

The following subjects were discussed by the fol- 
lowing people: 



COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES OF THE SUPERVISOR 47 

"Animal Health and Its Relation to Man's Health" 
— County Agent. 

"Food and Its Relation to Health" — Home Demon- 
stration Agent. 

"Teeth and Their Relation to Health"— A volun- 
teer dentist. 

"How to Keep Well"— The County Red Cross 
Nurse. 

"School Buildings and Their Relation to Health" — 
Supervisor. 

E. SPEIvUNG MATCHES 

An agency used for excellent socializing purposes 
during the year was the spelling match. These matches 
were for three purposes : 

1. To create a community consciousness among the 
people in the experimental supervisory zone. 

2. To direct the attention of the children and the 
adults to certain agricultural terms and ideas through 
spelling as a means. 

3. To provide practice in the spelling of certain 
words that everyone should be able to spell auto- 
matically. 

The community in which the experiment was con- 
ducted lay near the town of Aberdeen — one of the 
largest towns in South Dakota. The effect of this 
nearness to the town was to cause the rural people not 
to meet together or know their rurah neighbors. All 
of their contacts were with people whom they met in 
the town. Some of these were rural people but they 
did not meet in a rural situation. There was little 
community consciousness or pride. One of the first 



48 THE VALUE OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 

aims, therefore, of the supervisor was to get the peo- 
ple to thinking in terms of their own community and 
come to have a pride in their part of the county. 

With this in view the first month that spelHng was 
the subject to be emphasized, agricultural words which 
were of importance to the county were taken as the 
basis for study. At the end of the month all of the 
children and people of the district were brought to- 
gether at Warner for a spelling match — the adults 
against the children. People who had lived within 
ten miles of each other for years but were unac- 
quainted became acquainted on that occasion. The 
morning was occupied with the spelling match. The 
afternoon was devoted to addresses by visiting edu- 
cators. 

When spelling was emphasized the second time dur- 
ing the year, it was the last month of the supervisor's 
work. It was devoted to making automatic the spell- 
ing of twelve hundred and fifty-three words which con- 
stituted the "Suggested Minimal Spelling List," by 
Pry or. 

On Saturday, April 17th, the final big spelling match 
and social meeting of the year was held at Mansfield. 
During the week previous to that event, the supervi- 
sor held spelling matches each night at one of the 
schools which he had visited during the day. To these 
matches came the children and the adults of the three 
school districts which had been visited during the day. 

The big spelling match held on April 17th at Mans- 
field was one of the largest meetings ever held in that 
section of the county. The social attitude manifest at 
Mansfield on that day was in striking contrast to that 



COMMUNITY ACTIVITIE;s OF THE SUPERVISOR 49 

shown at the earher meetings of the supervisory zone, 
not in spirit so much as in extent of interest and broad- 
ened community outlook. 

F. THE CRUSADE AGAINST GOPHERS 

The "flicker tail" gopher is one of the agricultural 
problems of Brown County. The gopher stays in the 
ground all winter. In the month of April, he comes 
out and begins to search for food. The gophers are 
very numerous in parts of the county, so numerous in 
fact, that they are a real agricultural pest. 

The gopher is very easily killed at this season of the 
year. As succulent food is lacking, they will eat dry 
oats in most hearty fashion. In the early days of the 
spring, therefore, is the time to poison them. Practi- 
cally all of the gophers of a village can be killed in one 
day at this time if properly poisoned. The supervisor 
felt that the schools were the proper agency through 
which to work for the accomplishment of this result 
because children would look upon the killing of go- 
phers as a sport and would go at the task with zest. 
Not only this, but the children would be more likely to 
profit from the teaching than would the adults and they 
would most likely reap the benefits of their knowledge 
for a far longer period of time. 

With these ideas in mind, the supervisor invited the 
county agricultural agent to join him on a week of 
gopher extermination. The week of the series of spell- 
ing matches discussed in another section of this chap- 
ter was taken as the most opportune time for this 
work. The people came together for the purpose of 
engaging in a local spelling match, but they were told 



50 THE value; of school supervision 

about the gopher poison while there. Discussion and 
questions were encouraged. The effect was very grati- 
fying. 

This was but one of the phases of the supervisor's 
work which had a direct economic bearing. Not so 
much was done, though, along economic lines as might 
have been done and as could easily be done by a super- 
visor to stimulate the economic life of the community. 
If the supervisor is alert to his opportunity and to the 
needs of the territory which he serves, much can be 
done along economic lines which not only will not in- 
terfere with the efficiency of his regular work of class- 
room supervision but which would actually add to the 
efficiency of it. Such work would give him greater con- 
tact with the business forces of his territory and would 
develop in them a confidence in him and his work that 
classroom work alone could never develop.- 



Chapter VI. 

THE STATISTICAL DATA OF THE EXPERI- 
MENT 

A. THE TESTS 

1. functions Tested. In order to have reliable 
data from which to draw conclusions as to the value 
of supervision, standardized tests were given in read- 
ing, spelling, composition, penmanship, and arithmetic. 
Thirteen scores were secured for each child with the 
exception of those in the third and fourth grades for 
whom the score in fractions was omitted. The chil- 
dren were tested in the following functions : 

(a) Speed in reading, number of words per minute 

(b) Speed in answering questions on material read 

(c) Index of comprehension in reading 

(d) Reading, Scale Alpha 2, number of questions 
answered correctly 

(e) Spelling, percentage of words correctly spelled 

(f) Written composition 

(g) Penmanship, speed, number of letters writ- 
ten per minute 

(h) Penmanship, quality 
(i) Addition, number right 
(j) Subtraction, number right 
(k) Multiplication, number right 
(1) Division, number right 
(m) Fractions, number right 

2. Tests and Scales Used. The following tests and 
scales were used in both the initial and final tests: 
Reading : 

51 



5:2 THE VALUE OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 

Courtis Standard Research Tests, Silent Reading, 
No. 2 

Thorndike's Scale xA.lpha 2, Part I and Part II 
Spelling : 

Ayres' Scale, five words each from columns, L, M, 
N, O, Q, R, T, U, V. W. 

Different words from same columns used for final 
test. 

Composition : 

The Nassau County Supplement to the Hillegas 
Scale. 

Penmanship : 

The Ayers' Scale. 

Arithmetic : 

The Cleveland Survey Test. 

3. When Tests it'ere Given. The initial tests were 
given between Sept. 28th and Oct. loth, 1919. They 
were given to the experimental group during the first 
three days of the first week. During the remainder 
of that week and the following week they were given 
to the control group. There were three school rooms 
in the experimental group and five school rooms in 
the control group not tested during the days men- 
tioned above. They were all tested during the week 
of October 13th- 17th. 

The final tests were given between May 3rd and 
May 14th, 1920, and in the same order in which they 
were given during the initial test. 

4. By Whom Tests ivere Administered. The fol- 
lowing persons administered all tests, the same person 
testing the same schools in both the initial and final 
tests : 



* STATISTICAL DATA OF THE KXPERIMENT 53 

Miss Lucile Trott, County Supt. of Brown County. 

Miss Ivy Husband, teacher of courses in tests and 
measurements, Northern Normal and Industrial 
School. 

Mr. J. W. Thomas, Director of Extension, North- 
ern Normal and Industrial School. 

Mr. M. S. Pittman, who served as supervisor while 
conducting the experiment. 

The members of the group who administered the 
tests practiced the giving of the tests so that uni- 
formity of method might be followed. 

5. By Whom Tests zverc Scored. All test papers 
were scored by the members of the classes in tests 
and measurements of the Northern Normal and Indus- 
trial School of Aberdeen, South Dakota, under the 
direction of Miss Ivy Husband. While a different 
group of students scored the papers in the final tests 
from that which scored the initial test, the work was 
directed by the same person and the same procedure 
was followed so that the writer feels that the relia- 
bility of the results could not be affected therefrom. 

B. HOW THE DATA USED WERE SECURED 

In the experimental group v»?ere 114 children who 
constituted all of the children in the fifteen schoolrooms 
supervised who were in grades three to eight inclusive. 
In the control group were 225 children who consti- 
tuted all of the children in twenty-five schoolrooms in 
grades three to eight inclusive. 

All of the scores of all of the 114 children in the 
experimental group were used. The scores of the 114 
children in the control group whose initial scores in 
each subject were most nearly equal to that of the 



54 the; value: of school supervision 

initial scores of the 114 children in the experimental 
group, were used. By a comparison of the improve- 
ments made by these 114 children in each of these 
groups, the tables were derived which are presented 
in this chapter. 

C. HOW THE DATA ARE PRESENTED 

The data are presented in three different groups of 
of tables. The first group includes Tables I to VII. 
These tables show each grade of the experimental 
group compared with the corresponding grade of the 
control group in all functions in which the grade was 
tested. A summary of grade comparisons is given in 
Table VII. In these tables two results are secured — 
the average experimental coefficient and the median 
percentage of progress of the experimental group when 
measured in terms of progress of control group. 

The second group includes Tables VIII to XXI. 
In these tables comparisons between the experimental 
and control groups are presented for all functions 
taken separately. All children in the experimental 
group are compared to all children in the control ^roup, 
in the amount of improvement which was made in each 
function. Table XXI is a summary of these compari- 
sons. In these tables, one result is secured — the equated 
difference between the groups or the amount of time 
it will take the control group to attain the same 
position in amount of improvement now held by the 
experimental group. 

The third group contains only one table, Table XXII. 
In it is presented a comparison of the percentage of 
pupils in each grade in each group who improved in 
each function. 



STATISTICAL DATA OF THE EXPERIMENT 55 

[NOTE: Because of the great number and length of 
tables from which the data for Tables I to XXII 
were secured they are not presented here. The original 
scores from which they were derived and all test papers and 
original tables from which these data are derived are filed 
with Teachers' College, Columbia University.] 

In offering the tables which follow, the writer pro- 
poses to present certain facts. What are the questions 
to which we expect these tables to supply answers? 
They are — 

1. Out of the_ total number of tests given, how 
many results favored the experimental group? 

2. Out of the total number of experimental co- 
efficient points, how many favored the experimental 
group ? 

3. What was the median progress of the experi- 
mental group expressed in terms of progress of the 
control group? 

In interpreting the meaning of each of the figures 
given in the following tables, the following key will 
be helpful. The reader should take the first line of 
Table I and follow it through. This explanation will 
apply approximately to all other functions. 

D. W^HAT TABLES I TO VII SHOW* 

(la) shows the average improvement in number of 
words read per minute by the experimental 
group. 

(lb) shows the degree of unreliability of (la). 

(2a) shows the average improvement in number of 
words read per minute by the control group. 

♦All of the tabulated results presupposes scaled data. 
This is not true of data used in these tables. The excep- 
tions are Alpha 2 Reading- results, and all arithmetic results 
in which the number of questions answered and number of 
examples solved correctly were taken as the basis instead 
of the scaled measures generally used for those tests. Since 
the same principles were applied to the work of both groups, 
the writer feels that this does not lesson the validity of the 
measures. 



56 THE VALUE OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 

(2b) shows the degree of unreliability of (2a). 

(3a) shows the difference in the average improve- 
ment of the two groups. 

(3b) shows the degree of unreliability of (3a). 

(3c) shows the degree of certainty that the true 
difference, if known, would favor the group 
which the obtained difference favors. Unity 
is practical certainty. As the experimental 
coefficient becomes greater or less than unity, 
the degree of certainty increases or dimin- 
ishes accordingly. The experimental coefficient 
is secured by dividing the difference between 
the two average improvements by 2.78 times 
the sigma difference. (For fuller discussion 
of experimental coefficient, see "How to 
Measure in Education," by W. A. McCall. 
The MacMillan Co.) 

(4a) shows the average experimental coefficient 
for all functions in which the grade was 
tested. 
' (4b) shows the unreliability of (4a). 

(4c) shows the degree of certainty that (4a) fa- 
vors the experimenal group and is to be in- 
terpreted as in (3c). 

(5a) shows the progress of the experimental group 
in each function expressed in percentage of 
progress of control group. 

(5b) shows median of progress expressed in (5a). 

NOTE : The explanation given above for reading applies 
to all other functions listed in the table. Each function has its 
own unit of measurement. See (A) — Section i, this chapter. 



STATISTICAL DATA OF THE EXPERIMENT 



57 



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64 THE VALUE OE SCHOOF SUPERVISION 

The foregoing tables show how the two groups rank 
when they are compared grade by grade in all func- 
tions in which the grades were tested. The sixth grade 
of the experimental group made the greatest amount 
of gain (209.8%) and the fifth grade the least amount 
of gain of all the grades (140%) when compared with 
corresponding grades of the control group. 

E. WHAT TABLES VIII-XXI SHOW 

In order to see how the two groups compared in 
their improvements in the various functions, a series 
of tables is presented in which all of the children of 
the experimental group are compared with all of the 
children of the control group in the degrees to which 
they have improved in each function. These tables 
answer two questions : 

1. What was the average amount of improvemenr 
made by all of the children of the experimental group 
and by all of the children of the control groups in each 
function ? 

2. What is the equated difiference between the two 
groups in each function and which group does the 
difference favor? 



STATISTICAI, DATA OP* THE EXPERIMENT 65 



TABLE VIII. SP 


EED IN READING. (114 PUPILS IN 




EACH GROUP) 




What Were the 


Results for All Grades 
of Reading? 


in the Speed 


(Unit Used: 


Number of words per 


minute) 




Experi. Group 


Control Group 


Grades 


Av. Imp. 


Av. Imp. 


Third 


75-23 


40.70 


Fourth 


61.26 


40.06 


Fifth 


48.0s 


35-79 


Sixth 


73.00 


47.85 


Seventh 


67.68 


34.56 


Eighth 


85.72 


61.3s 


Total 


410.94 


260.31 


Av. Total Imp. 


68.49 


43.38 


Diff. of Av. Imp. 


25.11 




Equated Difference 


.57 





1. The experimental group made an average im- 
provement of 68.49 words per minute as against 43.38 
words for the control group. The equated difiference 
is .57. 

2. The equated difference means that it would take 
the control group that fractional part of a year improv- 
ing at its present rate to gain as great an amount as 
did the experimental group. It is secured by sub- 
tracting the smaller from the larger of the two aver- 
ages and dividing the remainder by the smaller of the 
averages, thus : 

68.49—43.38=25.11; 
25.11 / 43.38^=. 57, the equated difiference 
In like manner the equated dififerences were com- 
puted for all other functions: (See "How to Meas- 
ure in Education"— Wm. A, McCall). 



66 



THE VALUE OE SCHOOL SUPERVISION 



TABLE IX. SPEED IN ANSWERING QUESTIONS IN 
' READING (114 PUPILS IN EACH GROUP) 

What Were the Results for All Grades in the Speed with 
Which They Answered Questions Based on the Reading? 

(Unit Used: Number of Questions Answered in Five 
Minutes) 





Experi. Gro 


up 


Control 


Group 


Grades 


Av. Imp. 




Av. Imp. 


Third 


20.09 






9.95 


Fourth 


17.63 






tl.53 


Fifth 


17.63 






S-il 


Sixth 


16.1=; 






11.60 


Seventh 


. 16.88 






14.62 


Eighth 


14.84 






9.56 


Total 


102.22 






62.37 


Total Av. Imp. 


17.03 






10.39 


Diff. of Av. Imp. 




6.64 






Equated Difference 




.63 







1. The experimental group made an average im- 
provement of 17.03 questions as against 10.39 ques- 
tions for the control group, 

2. The equated difference is ,63. 



STATISTICAL DATA OF THE EXPERIMENT 67 



TABLE X. INDEX OF COMPREHENSION IN READ- 
ING. (114 PUPILS IN EACH GROUP.) 

What Were the Results for All Grades in Comprehension 
of Reading? 

(Unit Used: Percentage of Answers Correct) 

Experi. Group Control Group 



Grades 


Av. Imp. 


Av. Imp. 


Third ■ 


.04 


— 1.27 


Fourth 


— 6.00 


—12.48 


Fifth 


-548 


— 448 


Sixth 


3.85 


2.70 


Seventh 


1.63 


— 1. 00 


Eighth 


—1.94 


.88 


Total 


-7.98 


—15-65 


Total Av. Imp. 


—1.33 


— 2.61 


Diff. of Av. Imp. 


+ 1.28 




Equated Difference 


+ .96 





1. The experimental group had an average loss 
1.38 as against a loss of 2.61 for the control group. 

2. The equated difference is .96 and favors the 
experimental group. 



68 



THE VALUE OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 



TABLE XI. I^UMBER OF QUESTIONS CORRECTLY 

ANSWERED ON SCALE ALPHA 2. (114 

PUPILS IN EACH GROUP) 

What Were the Results for All Grades in the Number of 

Questions Which They Answered Correctly 

in Scale Alpha 2? 

(Unit Used: Number of Questions Correctly Answered in 
20 Minutes) 







Experi. Group 


Control 


Group 


Grades 




Av. Imp. 




Av. Imp. 


Third 




4.00 






2.22 


Fourth 










2.81 


Fifth 




6.16 






2.23 


Sixth 




340 






1-55 


Seventh 




S.62 






2.25 


Eighth 




544 






1.39 


Total 




30.56 






12.48 


Total Av. Imp. 


5.09 






2.08 


Diff. of 


Av. Imp. 




3-01 






Equated Difference 




1.44 







1. The experimental group made an average im- 
provement of 5.09 questions as against 2.08 for the 
control group. 

2. The equated difference is 1.44. 



STATISTICAL DATA OF THE) EXPERIMENT 69 



TABLE XII. SPELLING (114 PUPILS IN EACH 
GROUP) 

What Were the Results for All Grades in Spelling? 

(Unit Used: Percentage of Words Correctly Spelled) 

Experi. Group Control Group 



Grades 


Av. Imp. 




Av. Imp. 


Third 


20.36 




• S-9I 


Fourth 


18.10 




3.68 


Fifth 


14.00 




3.53 


Sixth 


10.70 




5.10 


Seventh 


16.00 




4-94 


Eighth 


9.00 




5.62 


Total 


88.16 




28.68 


Total Av. Imp. 


14.69 




4.78 


Diff. of Av. Imp. 




9.91 




Equated Difiference 




2.07 





1. The experimental group made an average im- 
provement of 14.96 as against 4.78 for the control 
group. 

2. The equated difference is 2.07. 



70 THE VAhVt OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 



TABLE XIII. COxMPOSlTlON (114 PUPILS IN EACH 
GROUP) 

What Were the Results for All Grades in Written Com- 
position? 

(Unit Used: Steps on the Nassau Supplement to Hillegas 
Scale) 







Experi. Group 


Control Group 


Grades 




Av. Imp. 




Av. Imp. 


Third 




I.2I 




.70 


Fourth 




.74 




.34 


Fifth 




76 




.86 


Sixth 




.28 




.10 


Seventh 




1.20 




.27 


Eighth 




.49 




.25 


Total 




4.68 




2.55 


Av. Total Imp. 


.78 




.42 


Diff. of 


Av. Imp. 




.36 




Equated Difference 




.85 





1. The experimental group made an average im- 
provement of .78 as against .42 for the control group. 

2. The equated difference is .85. 



STATISTICAL DATA OF THE) EXPERIMENT^ 7I 



TABLE XIV. SPEED IN PENMANSHIP (114 PUPILS 
IN EACH GROUP) 

What Were the Results for All "Grades in Speed in Pen- 
manship? y 

(Unit Used: Number of Letters Written per Minute/ 
Experi. Group Control Group 



Grades 


Av. Imp. 




Av. Imp. 


Third 


20.95 




10.86 


Fourth 


10.26 




10,00 


Fifth 


28.00 




9.1 1 


Sixth 


16.00 




4.30 


Seventh 


9.00 




7.25 


Eighth 


4.88 




.22 


Total 


89.09 




41.74 


Total Av. Imp. 


14.86 




6.96 


Diff. of Av. Imp. 




7.90 




Equated Difference 




1. 13 





1. The experimental group made an average im- 
provement of 14.86 letters per minute as against 6.96 
for the control group. 

2. The equated difference is 1.13. 



72 the; value; 01* school supervision 



TABLE XV. QUALITY IN PENMANSHIP (114 PUPILS 
IN EACH GROUP) 

What Were the Results for All Grades in the Quality of 
Penmanship? 

(Unit Used : Steps on Ayer's Penmanship Scale) 

Experi. Group Control Group 

Grades Av. Imp. Av. Imp. 



Third 




— 7.59 




— 3.50 


Fourth 




— 7.25 




— 8.94 


Fifth 




— 8.65 




— 1. 00 


Sixth 




- 8.85 




— 7.50 


Seventh 




-6.31 




— 2.68 


Eighth 




— 372 




+ •i.o=; 


Total 




—42.37 




—20.57 


Total Av. 


Imp. 


— 7.06 




— 3.43 


Diff. of Av. Imp. 




—2.63 




Equated Difference 




- .7^ 





1. The experimental group has an average of 7.06 
as against a loss of 3.43 for the control group. 

2. The equated difference is .76 and favors the con- 
trol group. 

NOTE: What the relative merits of speed and quality are 
in the complex known as penmanship is not estimated. What 
would have been the quality of the penmanship of the ex- 
perimental group if it had written at the rate of the control 
group is not known The results for each of the func- 
tions — speed and quality — are therefore given — and each 
may be considered for what it is worth. 



STATISTICAL DATA OF THE EXPERIMENT 



TABLE XVI. NUMBER RIGHT IN ADDITION (114 
PUPILS IN EACH GROUP) 

What Were the Results for All Grades in Addition? 

(Unit Used: Number of Examples Correctly Solved in 
Fixed Time) 







Experi. Group 




Control Group 


Grades 




Av. Imp. 






Av. Imp. 


Third 




10.59 






6.04 


Fourth 




13.14 






10.00 


Fifth 




11.32 






8.10 


Sixth 




12.80 






4.70 


Seventh 




11.38 






7-25 


Eighth 




11.00 






3-39 


Total 




70.23 






39.48 


Total Av. Imp. 


lr.70 






6.58 


Difif. of 
Equated 


Av. Imp. 
Difiference 




5. 


.r2 

■17 





1. The experimental group made an average im- 
provement of 11.70 examples solved correctly as 
against 6.58 for the control group. 

2. The equated difference is .'j'j and favors the ex- 
perimental group. 



^4 *HE VAtU^ OF SCEtOot ^UPEJRVISION 



TABLE XVII. NUMBER RIGHT IN SUBTRACTION 
(114 PUPILS IN EACH GROUP) 

What Were the Results ior All Grades in Subtraction? 

(Unit Used: Number of Examples Correctly Solved in 
Fixed Time) 





Experi. Group 




Control Group 


Grades 


Av. Imp. 






Av. Imp. 


Third 


7.12 






3-03 


Fourth 


10.84 






I.18 


Fifth 


9.22 






6.79 


Sixth 


10.55 






3.80 


Seventh 


8.56 






3-00 


Eighth 


10.39 






4.56 


Total 


56.68 






22.36 


Total Av. Imp. 


944 






3-72 


Diff. of Av. Imp. 




5. 


,12 




Equated Difference 




I. 


53 





1. The experimental group made an average im- 
provement of 9.44 as against 3.44 for the control 
group. 

2. The equated difference is 1.53 and favors the 
experimental group. 



STATISTICAI, DATA OF THE EXPE;rIMENT 75 



TABLE XVIII. NUMBER RIGHT IN MULTIPLICA- 
TION (114 PUPILS IN EACH GROUP) 

What Were the Resuhs for All Grades in Multiplication? 

(Unit Used: Number of Examples Correctly Solved in 
Fixed Time) 





Experi. Group 


Control 


Group 


Grades 


Av. Imp. 




Av. Imp. 


Third 


11.81 






4.18 


Fourth 


II. 12 






7-37 


Fifth 


11.90 






8.16 


Sixth 


8.90 






4.75 


Seventh 


8.38 






6.42 


Eighth 


7.33 






4.11 


Total 


59.44 






34-99 


Total Av. Imp. 


9.90 






5.83 


Diff. of Av. Imp. 




4-07 






Equated Difiference 




.69 







1. The experimental group made an average im- 
provement of 9.90 examples as against 5.83 for the 
control group. 

2. The equated difference is .69 and favors the 
experimental group. 



70 



THE VALUE OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 



TABLE XIX. NUMBER RIGHT IN DIVISION (114 
PUPILS IN EACH GROUP) 

What Were the Results for All Grades in Division? 

(Unit Used: Number of Examples Correctly Solved in 
Fixed Time) 

Grades 

Third 

Fourth 

Fifth 

Sixth 

Seventh 

Eighth 

Total 

Total Av. Imp. 

Diff. of Av. Imp. 

Equated Difference 

1. The experimental group made an average im- 
provement of 9.86 examples as against 5.86 for the 
control group. 

2. The equated difference is .69 and favors the 
experimental group. 



Elxperi. Group 


Control Group 


Av. Imp. 




Av. Imp. 


11.27 

10.84 

7.64 




5.8T 
5-68 
8.27 


10.30 




5-20 


10.50 
8.61 

9.86 


4.00 
.69 


6.50 

372 

3S-I8 

5.86 



STATISTICAL DATA OF THE) EXPERIMENT "J^ 



TABLE XX. FRACTIONS (114 PUPILS IN EACH 
GROUP) 

What Were the Results' for the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and 
Eighth Grades in Fractions? 

(Unit Used: Number of Examples Correctly Solved in 
Fixed Time) 





Experi. Group 


Control Group 


Grades 


Av. Imp. 




Av. Imp. 


Third 








Fourth 








Fifth 


3.43 




1.89 


Sixth 


6.05 




1. 15 


Seventh 


4-37 




I.IC 


Eighth 


3.34 




2.17 


Total 


17.19 




6.4c 


Av. Total Imp. 


4-29 




i.6c 


Diff. of Av. Imp. 




2.69 




Equated Difference 




1.68 





1. The experimental group made an average im- 
provement of 4.29 examples as against 1.60 for the 
control group. 

2. The equated difference is 1.68 and favors the 
experimental group. 

Since the amounts of improvements in the thirteen 
different functions are not comparable measures, no 
summary table can be given for them. 

The equated dififerences, though, are approximately 
comparable and their total results are therefore given 
in the next table. ' 



78 THF, VAIvUE OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 



TABLE XXI. SUMMARY OF EQUATED DIFFER- 
ENCES 

The length of time that it would take the slower group to 
make as much impro^ement as did the faster group is ex- 
pressad in the fractional part of a year. The rate of the 
control group is used as the basis in all cases. The degree of 
superiority of the fast group over the slow group is expressed 
as follows for each function : 

1. Rate of silent reading 57 Years 

2. No. of questions answered 63 " 

Index of comprehension in reading 96 " 

Reading, Scale Alpha 2, questions right 1.44 " 

5. Spelling, percentage correct - 2.07 " 

6. Comoosition, Nassau Supp. Hillegas Scale 

Units 85 

Penmanship, speed 1.13 

Addition, number right T] 

9. Subtraction, number right i.S3 

10. Multiplication, number right .69 " 

11. Division, number right 69 

12. Fractions, number right 1.68 

13. Pennmanship, quality, favoring control group .76 

Total No. of points favoring experimental group 13.01 

Total No. of points favoring control group .76 

Algebraic sum of Equated Difference 12.25 

The average equated difference is 942 years. 



STATISTICAI. DATA OF THE EXPERIMENT /Q 

From the foregoing, it will be seen that out of the 
thirteen functions compared, the experimental group 
was superior to the control group in twelve functions 
and inferior in only one. 

The total equated difference shows that it would still 
take the control group roughly .942 of a year improv- 
ing at its own speed to attain the same amount of im- 
provement already attained by the experimental group. 
Stated in another way, we may say that the experi- 
mental group did 194.2% as much in the same length 
of time as did the control group. 

By the other method, summarized in Table VII, the 
experimental group did 193.75% as much as did the 
control group in the same length of time. Averaging 
the two, we can say that by these two measures the 
experimental group did approximately 194% as much 
in the same length of time as did the control group. 

One other method of comparison of the two groups 
is given in Table XXII. In this table is presented the 
actual percentage of children in each grade who made 
improvements in each function during the year. The 
table answers three questions : 

1. What percentage of pupils of each grade of each 
group improved in each function? (Read the percent- 
ages opposite functions.) 

2. What is the average percentage of pupils in each 
grade of each group who improved in all subjects? 
(Read averages at bottom of table.) 

3. What is the percentage of children in all grades 
in each group who improved in each function? (Read 
the averages for each group opposite the functions.) 



8o 



THE VALUE OE SCHOOL SUPERVISION 



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STATISTICAL DATA OF THE EXPERIMENT St 

1. Table XXII shows that the average number of 
pupils of each grade of the experimental group, who 
improved in all functions, is higher in every instance 
than the average for the corresponding grade in the 
control group. (Read averages at bottom of table.) 

2. It shows, also, that the average for all grades 
of the experimental group is higher for twelve out of 
the thirteen functions than are the corresponding aver- 
ages for the control group. ( Read averages at sides of 
table.) 

The only case of superiority out of the nineteen aver- 
ages secured is that of quality of penmanship in which 
an average of only i6 per cent, of the experimental 
group show improvement as against 25 per cent of the 
control group. 
P. SUMMARY OE STATISTICAL RESULTS 

By all of the methods of comparison shown in tables 
I to XXII the results of the year's work by the experi- 
mental group are superior to those by the control 
group. The results summarized are as follows : 

1. Out of 76 average improvement scores the ex- 
perimental group was superior in 67. (Table VII.) 

2. Out of a total of 51.67 experimental coefficient 
points, the total measures showing the degree of relia- 
bility that the differences indicated are properly placed, 
48.62 points favor the experimental group. (Table 
VII.) 

3. The median progress of the experimental group, 
when expressed in terms of the progress of the control 
group was 193.75%. (Table VII.) 

4. By the equated difference method it is shown 
that it would take the control group .942 of a year to 



82 the; valus of school supervision 

reach the same point of improvement attained by the 
experimental group. (Table XXI.) 

5. The average number of children for each grade 
who improved in all functions combined was greater 
for each of the six grades in the experimental group 
than for the corresponding grade of the control group 
(Table XXII.) 

6. The average number of children of all grades 
combined who improved in each function was greater 
tor the experimental group than for the control group 
in 12 out of 13 functions. (Table XXII.) 



Chapter VII. 

RESULTS OF SUPERVISION NOT SHOWN BY 

STANDARDIZED TESTS 

Not all of the results of supervision can be put down 
in tables with a coefficient of reliability attached. The 
results may not be less evident or less in effect but 
our means of determining and recording them are less 
well standardized. In this chapter a few of these less 
well standardized results of supervision are presented. 

A. RESULTS INDICATED BY THE CHILDREN 

When the initial test was given in September, the 
subject for the composition was "What I would like 
to do on Saturday." The children, almost unanimously 
in both groups, said that they would most enjoy going 
to Aberdeen where they could attend the picture show, 
get ice cream, and do such other things as country 
children do when they go to town. The response from 
both groups of children was the same to this subject. 
When the final test was given in May, the subject 
for the composition was "What I have most enjoyed 
at school this year." The response to this subject 
showed that the pleasure content for the two groups 
of children had been very different during the year. 

The six subjects most often mentioned by the 114 
children in the experimental group were : 

Recess games n times 

Reading 12 

The zone newspaper 17 

83 . ■ 



84 the; value; of school supervision 

Public programs i8 " 

The supervisor's visit 41 " 

Spelling matches 53 " 

The five subjects most often mentioned by the 225 
children of the control group were: 

Drawing 19 times 

.Parties 20 " 

Spelling contests 31 " 

Public programs at Christmas 42 " 

Recess games 88 " 

From the above, it will be seen that the recess of the 
children occupied the place of lowest importance in 
the experimental group but they held the highest rank 
among the pleasures of the children of the control 
group. This was not due to the fact that recess games 
had been discouraged in the experimental group, for 
they had not. On the contrary, the supervisor and the 
teachers had encouraged them. The reason seems to 
be simply that the children of the experimental group 
found the other features more interesting. It is pos- 
sible that this difference was due to the novelty of the 
features named by the children of the experimental 
group. At any rate, it is a fact that the features which 
the children named most often as those which they 
had most enjoyed during the year were those features 
for which supervision was responsible. 

B. RESULTS indicate;d by the patrons 

There were many evidences that the patrons were 
pleased with supervision and that the supervision pro- 
duced real results in changing their attitude toward the 
school. 



RESULTS NOT SHOWN BY TESTS 85 

One day while the supervisor was visiting" in one of 
the schools, three parents came in and visited at the 
same time. When the afternoon session closed the 
principal of the school said : "I have been the prin- 
cipal of this school for seven years and this afternoon 
is the first time that I have ever had a parent come and 
really visit the school." 

This visit of these parents was not an unsual instance 
for the year. The school records show that in years 
past there had been very little visiting by the patrons 
of the schools. .There was not a school in the experi- 
mental group that did not have a number of visitors 
during- the year 1919-20. In some of the districts, 
every patron was a school visitor at some time during 
the year. In some of the school districts, visiting the 
school became one of the adult diversions during the 
winter months. The parents were not only visitors 
but were intelligent observers since they knew in ad- 
vance what the school was trying to accomplish. 

The patrons would often ask, when meeting the 
supervisor, how their school compared with the other 
schools of the zone in ability to read, do arithmetic, 
or perform whatever activity the zone was emphasizing. 
This showed that the patrons were keeping informed 
as to the activities of the schools and were interested 
in the progress of the work. 

The changing social attitude of the people ex- 
pressed in the form of private hospitality was one of 
the most noticeable changes of the year. The writer 
was told that previously the people had rarely enter- 



86 the; vai^ui; of school supervision 

tained the superintendent of schools or other school 
officials. This was not due to any lack of appreciation 
of the importance of the work or to any antipathy to 
the person of the official, but apparently, the people had 
not thought of entertaining the school official as a 
social or educational privilege to be sought. If the 
official happened around at meal time or at night he 
was welcomed, but he was not invited in advance to 
arrange his trip so that he might become their guest. 
During the year of the experiment the attitude changed 
very much in this particular. The supervisor did ini- 
tiate the custom by suggestion but once started, the 
people kept it going with increasing momentum. Not 
only was the supervisor the beneficiary of this hos- 
pitality, but the teachers also. 

From the indications stated above and many others, 
it is believed that supervision of schools reached the 
adults of the community and changed their attitudes 
toward school activities and school officials in a de- 
gree proportionally as great as it did the life of the 
children in the schools. 

The writer had no means by which to test the educa- 
tional and social spirit of the adult part of the com- 
munity of the control group. Since that group had 
no supervisor, there was no means by which to check 
it in the items stated above. 

In order to get some evidence of what the people 
in each group thought of the efficiency of the schools 
during the year 1919-20, the writer asked the head of 
the rural department of the Normal School to send 



RESULTS NOT SHOWN BY TESTS 8/ 

letters to all of the patrons of both groups. The fol- 
lowing letter was sent : 

My Dear 

The Northern Normal and Industrial School is anxious to 
become of more service to the rural schools of Dakota. In 
order that it may be guided in its work, it needs and seeks 
the advice and counsel of the rural people of the state. For 
this reason it is addressing the following letter to you. Will 
you be good enough to answer the following questions? Please 
be perfectly frank and answer them just as you feel. Your 
replies will be held confidential and will be seen only by us 
and will be used only to guide us in the work that we shall do 
in working for the schools. 

I am, 

Yours very truly, 

L. B. Sipple, 
Head of the Rural Department. 

1. Do you think that your community's interest in your 
school has been greater, the same, or less this year than 
in former years? 

2. Who do you think is responsible for this difference this 
year? 

3. What evidence have you of the truth of your statements? 



(a) Have there been fewer or more public meetings at 

the schoolhouse ? 

(b) Who prompted these meetings ? 

(c) Have the children, while at home, talked more, the 
same, or less about their school work than in for- 
mer years? 

(d) Has your teacher been more, the same, or less popu- 
lar this year than formerly ? 

(e) Have the children looked forward to school 
events more or less this year than formerly? 



(f) Have the children been more interested in their stu- 
dies or in the games at school ? 

(g) In what subjects have they been most interested? 



(h) Have the people shown more, the same, or less in- 
terest in entertaining in their homes the teacher and 
the school officials who have visited your school this 
year? 

(i) Are the people of your community more interested 
in the consolidation of schools than formerly? 



88 THE VAI^UE OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 

If so. what or who has caused this change in school 

thought ? 

Please write below any thoughts you may have as to how the 
rural schools can be improved and what we, as a school, 
can do. 



From the letter it can be seen that there was noth- 
ing in it to suggest to the reader that its purpose was 
to get a reaction on the subject of supervision. Ques- 
tions I and 2, nevertheless, did have that as their pur- 
poses. 

There were only twenty replies from the experi- 
mental group and fifteen from the control group. Of 
the twenty replying from the experimental group, all 
said that the schools had been better than formerly and 
that the supervisor was chiefly responsible for the dif- 
ference. Ten replies from the control group said that 
there had been little perceptible difference. Five in- 
stances reported that the schools were better than for- 
merly and said that the teacher in charge was respon- 
sible. 

The number of replies was not sufficient to justifv 
the most reliable conclusions but it may be said that 
the replies from both groups were from the most in- 
telligent people of the communities from which they 
came. In so far as the replies represent all of the peo- 
ple, therefore, it may be said that those who had had 
supervision during the year had appreciated its value. 



RESULTS NOT SHOWN EY TESTS 89 

C. RESULTS INDICATED BY THE TEACHERS 

At the beg-inning- of the year the teachers of both 
groups filled out a questionnaire in which the amount 
of reading done during the previous year was asked 
for. It was found that but little reading had been 
done beyond that required by law as a part of the 
Reading Circle work. This was true of the teachers 
of both groups alike. Even that which had been done, 
the evidence indicated had been done quite super- 
ficially. At the end of the school year 1919-20, the 
teachers of both groups were again asked to state the 
amount of reading done during the year just closing. 
The replies showed that the teachers in the experimen- 
tal group had each read an average of 8.6 books dur- 
ing the session, while the teachers in the control group 
had read an average of 2.6 books. It further showed 
that the teachers of the former group had attended an 
average of 6.1 teachers' meetings, while the teachers in 
the latter group had attended an average of 2 meet- 
ings, both of which had been required by law. It 
further showed that three of the teachers of the 15 
in the experimental group were taking' extension 
courses with the Normal School, while none of the 25 
of the control group were doing so. 

These facts would indicate that the teachers under 
supervision were really growing professionally. This 
means even more when it is remembered that the 
teaohers in the experimental group were personally 
participating in the teachers' meetings which they at- 
tended, practically all of them at some time teaching 
lessons for the observation of the other teachers. The 
reading which the teachers in this group did was also 



90 THE VALUE OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 

probably of a much more thorough type since there 
was an immediate purpose for what they read. It had 
a place in the scheme which they were following. 
Some quotations taken from letters in reply to a ques- 
tionnaire sent out by the county superintendent will 
make this point more clear. 

One teacher said : "Previously, I seldom read more 
professional books than was required for the Reading 
Circle work, as we were never urged to read more." 

Another teacher said: "Previously the superin- 
tendent's frequent and emphatic 'Our teachers must 
be professional' was all that inspired me to do any 
professional reading and that was only the Reading 
Circle books and my professional magazines. The 
present plan has prompted me to more professional 
reading than I have done before. The reason is that 
I have found out the real reason for professional read- 
ing. The first month the reading was a real trial. I 
did it though and found it to be beneficial. Our read- 
ing has always been assigned, that is, references given. 
I was surprised to find that I came to desire something 
to read on our problem. I found recently in my col- 
lection of books some that I had once read for Read- 
ing Circle work. Upon rereading them, I found that I 
had only skimmed them before. I can account for 
this only in this way: I had a chance to specifically 
apply what I read. My educational magazines have 
been of greater use to me, also, I think for this "rea- 
son." 

Another teacher said : "Previously I have read only 
what was required for the Reading Circle work. The 
plan this year has prompted me to do more than ever 



RESULTS NOT SHOWN BY TESTS 9I 

before, because as each month approaches I know what 
subject I shall work upon, while before I simply took a 
book and read it through chapter after chapter without 
stopping to apply it. I was reading for the sake of 
reading the book, not for the purpose of improving my 
work the next day as I do now." 

That the teachers themselves appreciated supervi- 
sion was evidenced not only by their uniform co-oper- 
ation and professional spirit but also by their personal 
attitude toward the supervisor. 

D. RESULTS OE SPECIAL CAMPAIGNS 

I. The Health Campaign. It was not possible to 
appraise the results of the campaign for better health 
before the school year closed. Many children did have 
teeth cleaned and cavaties filled. A few had glasses 
fitted. Reports from the zone since the close of the 
experiment indicate that a few have had more serious 
corrections made, such as the removal of tonsils and 
adenoids. To what extent, though, this is true and 
not also true in the control group the writer had no 
means of ascertaining. Both districts had the same 
county nurse and she gave the same attention to both 
groups. The question is, to what extent did the pub- 
licity and combined efifort of a number of people work- 
ing together in the experimental group produce greater 
effect than when the nurse worked alone in the control 
group ? 

The writer feels that perhaps the greater results of 
the campaign would be recorded in the changed out- 
look and general conduct of the people rather than in 
the number of children who had special work done on 
teeth, eyes and throat. 



92 THU VALUE OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 

2. The Campaign Against Gophers. The oppor- 
tunity for checking the effect of the gopher campaign 
was even less than was that of the heaUh campaign. 
This was true for the following reasons : 

(a) If the poisoning method succeeded, very few 
of the gophers would ever be found, since the method 
used so operates that the gophers go to their holes 
before dying. 

(b) The number of gophers in the experimental 
territory and in the control territory would have had 
to be known before and after the campaign. This was 
impossible. 

(c) The value of the amount of destruction which 
one gopher would render in one year and amount of 
his progeny in succeeding years would need to be 
known. This has been estimated but is not known. 

(d) The educational benefit derived by the people 
— children and adults — as a result of the campaign 
against the gophers is not known. 

While none of these necessary facts are known, the 
writer .feels safe in the assumption that there were 
positive results in all of these particulars to such a de- 
gree as to make the campaign justifiable as an allied 
project to the school work. 



Summarizing the effects of supervision which are 
not measurable by standardized tests, we may say that 
the phases are numerous and important, but that the 
evidence is somewhat nebulous. In the foregoing dis- 
cussion it has been pointed out that the attitude of the 
children in both groups in September was the same 



RESULTS NOT SHOWN BY TESTS 93 

toward what constituted a Saturday's pleasure, but in 
May the attitude of the two groups was very different 
as to what they had most enjoyed at school during the 
year. In the experimental group, parents visited the 
schools during the year as they had not done pre- 
viously. They entertained the supervisor, they at- 
tended more public meetings, they put forth especial 
effort to render unusual courtesies to the teachers. All 
of these acts were the result of an attitude which the 
supervisor had cultivated by providing opportunities 
for its expression. 



Chapti;r VIII. 

RESULTS OF SUPERVISION RESTATED AND 
DISCUSSED 

In evaluating the outcomes of any endeavor in which 
they are the product of human association, it is Hkely 
that the abstract results of the undertaking cannot be 
(jLissociated wholly from the personalities of the people 
engaged. It seems fair to conclude that this principle 
would apply to the supervision of country schools. 

In a questionnaire sent out by the superintendent of 
Brown County to the teachers in the experimental 
group, the superintendent asked the teachers: "To 
what extent do you think the success of supervision in 
your zone is the result of the particular plan used and 
to what extent is it the result of the personality of the 
supervisor ?" 

In all of the replies the teachers said that the per- 
sonality of the supervisor was perhaps of the greater 
importance even though they felt the particular plan 
used was the best one through which personality might 
function. 

The conclusions which follow must be interpreted, 
then, in the light of the personality of the supervisor 
and the teachers engaged. If those personalities had 
been stronger, probably greater results would have 
been secured; if they had been weaker, probably less 
good results would have been achieved. 
A. the; re:suIvTS and the^ means through which 

THEY WERE SECURED WERE 
I. The children in the supervised schools advanced 
194 per cent, as far during seven months in the particu- 

94 



RESULTS RESTATED AND DISCUSSED 95 

lar functions under investigations as did the children 
with whom they were compared. 

The agencies of supervision through which this re- 
sult was accomplished were : 

. (a) An initial standardized test in the thirteen 
functions, the' results of which were so published and 
so applied in the schools that every child could know 
his own ability in the function and know how he 
ranked with others in his own school and with all 
others in his grade throughout the zone. 

(b) Seven supervisory tours each of which was de- 
voted to the emphasis of some particular phase of the 
school work which would improve the children in some 
of the functions under investigation. 

(c) A newspaper for the zone which was used to 
promote the various phases of work in such a way that 
the children could understand what was being done and 
what was the goal sought. 

(d) Getting the children to feel that the goal 
sought was their own goal, not one desired by the 
teacher particularly. 

(e) Group teachers' meetings at which were dis- 
cussed the principles upon which were based the teach- 
ing practice after the practice had been illustrated. 

(f) The professional reading of the teachers which 
was motivated by an immediate need for help in the 
solution of some definite teaching difficulty. 

(g) The circular letters of the supervisor in which 
the exact time and purpose of the next visit to each 
school was stated. 

(h) Personal conferences with- the individual 
teacher (which came as a result of the teacher's seek- 



96 THE VALUE OF SCHOOL SLTPERVISIOM 

ing) in which were discussed the problems which she 
brought to the conference for solution. 

(i) Visits in the homes of the people through which 
personal friendships were formed and educational aims 
were clarified. 

(j) Games with the children through v/hich a spirit 
of understanding, freedom and frankness in action were 
developed. 

(k) Brief talks to the children while visiting the 
schools. The talks were never over five minutes in 
length. The purpose of the talks was to instruct and 
inspire the children along the particular line of school 
work which was being- studied during that month. The 
talks were not sermonettes, nor were they jokes, they 
tried to be business talks to children, so brief and clear 
that the two or three essential points emphasized could 
be understood and remembered. 

(1) Public meetings with definite purposes. These 
meetings had four purposes : ( i ) To interest and in- 
spire the rural people educationally, (2) to provide op- 
portunity for larger and more frequent social contact, 
(3) to give instruction in matters of health and to 
strengthen the purpose of the people to put into prac- 
tice what they already knew, (4) to disseminate 
knowledge which would lead to economic betterment. 

(m) A final standardized test of the' schools which 
test was announced at the time the initial test was 
given. 

That the writer felt each of these agencies import- 
ant is evidenced by the fact that he made use of them. 
He does not know which of them was of most value or 
that all of them were of value. That remains for some 



re;sults restated and discussed 97 

future experiments to determine. It may even be true 
that some of the agencies used were hurtful in effect. 
All that we are prepared now to say is that used to- 
gether the good results were more by 94.1 per cent, 
than were the evil effects. 

Granting this, the writer may be privileged to state 
what, in his opinion, was of greatest worth. 

Contrary to custom, the writer feels that the child 
is the most important agency through which to im- 
prove the schools by supervision. Ultimately, all su- 
pervision looks to the improvement of the child. Why 
not, therefore, attack the problem directly instead of 
circuitously ? If the child can come to feel the prob- 
lems as his own, he will use the teacher and the parent 
as his helpers. They cease to be his masters and be- 
come his helpers. 

Taking this point of view of 'supervision, therefore, 
the major interest of the writer throughout the vear 
was to inform the child of his true situation, to get him 
to set up goals for future attainment for him, and to 
aid him in attaining those goals. It was with this in 
view, therefore, that the details of the initial survey 
were announced, that the approaching final survey was 
announced at the same time, that the monthly paper 
was published, that the professional talks were made 
to the children, that the children were made such an 
important part of every teachers' meeting, and that 
such emphasis was placed upon "one thing at a time." 

The teacher is the second most important agency 
through whom the supervisor must work for improv- 
ing the character of the school work. Nothing can 
supplant in importance the child's' own interest in and 



98 the; value of school supervision 

desire for improvement, but second only to that is the 
teacher's knowledge of how to render him assistance 
in attaining his ambition. In order that the teacher 
may do this effectively, she must understand the prin- 
ciples involved. She may get some results by trial 
and error methods, but the same teacher will get far 
better results if she clearly sees the problem to be 
solved and has some clarified theory by which she at- 
tacks it. 

In order that the teachers might see the problems 
involved and might develop a clarified theory for at- 
tacking them, the particular type of teachers' meet- 
ings, which were had during this experiment, was used. 
It was for this purpose that the supervisor taught 
demonstration lessons at each meeting as a means of 
revealing the problems; that one subject was taken for 
concentrated and concerted study for one month with 
a second meeting devoted to summarizing the results 
of the study ; that the teachers taught their demonstra- 
tion lessons at the second meeting and that the pro- 
fessional reading for each month was selected with 
special reference to the problems involved. 

The size of the teachers' meetings was also dictated 
by this purpose. The writer feels that the large in- 
stitute which consists of hundreds of teachers is al- 
most a criminal waste of money and opportunity. Be- 
yond the purposes of inspiration and beyond one day 
in length, they are probably more hurtful than other- 
wise. To be effective, the writer feels that the group 
must be small enough for the individual participation 
of every teacher in every meeting. The group should 
also be so homogeneous in character and by the nature 



RESULTS RESTATED AND DISCUSSED 99 

of the problems studied that what is of interest to one 
will be profitable to all. 

In order to arrive at a judgment of the most desir- 
able size of the group for the teachers' meetings, the 
county superintendent, in her questionnaire referred 
to above, asked "How many teachers should be in a 
group in order to get the best results from the teach- 
ers' meeting?" 

The replies indicated that ten should be the minimum 
and twenty the maximum. There should be just enough 
to provide for enthusiasm of numbers and yet pre- 
serve the freedom which a small group gives. 

An intelligent understanding of the problems in- 
volved and the methods by which they can best assist 
in their solution is scarcely less important for the par- 
ents than for the teachers of the children. While it 
should be the ambition of the child which drives him 
ever forward, it should be the ambition of the parents 
and teachers to guide him when he is lost and to 
strengthen him when he is weak. Those children who 
attend school regularly are the children of parents 
who have a never-flagging ambition for their children, 
who watch carefully that their health is preserved and 
that they have the right sort of a home environment 
in which to learn and to grow. 

The business of supervision, then, in so far as it is 
related to the home, is to assist every home in becoming 
such an influence in the life of the children in that home. 
With this object in mind, the zone newspaper was 
planned for home consumption as well as for the school. 
The educational aims and goals for the year were so 
expressed that every child and every parent could 



loo the; value of school supervision 

understand them. Through the child's enthusiasm the 
parents came to aspire for the same results. The su- 
pervisor's visits to the homes and the public meetings 
which were held all contributed to the same end — 
developing in the parents a desire to have their chil- 
dren do the best that it was possible for them to do 
toward the realization of their worthy ambitions in 
school. 

With children, teachers and parents, all conscious 
of certain worthy aims, aware of certain limiting in- 
fluences, and convinced of the possibility of certain 
definite accomplishments through the performance of 
certain recognized tasks, the work of the supervisor 
becomes easy, interesting and pleasant. 

2. Granting that it would take the children in the 
control group 94 per cent, of a year longer to do the 
same amount of work than it did the children in the 
experimental group, and granting that the results that 
the schools are working for are results that are socially 
desirable then, we may conclude that the value of 
the service of one supervisor who would produce such 
results in all of the work of the school in forty-five 
such schoolrooms would be $45,102.15 per year. 

This result is secured by multiplying $1066.25, the 
average expense per annum of the schoolrooms in the 
experimental group by 94.1% and multiplying the re- 
sult, $1002.27 by 45, the number of rooms contemplated 
as the supervisory load. This takes into consideration 
merely the value of the service to the school itself 
when measured in terms of pupil progress and entirely 
ignores any social or economic service which the su- 



KKSULTS RESTATED A:'D DISCUSSED IDT 

pervisor ma}' have rendered to the community or the 
professional service rendered to the teachers. 

It is wise and fair to say that the results secured ma}- 
have been somewhat due to the great possibility for 
improvement and also to the novelty of the work done. 
It is not certain that such progress could be shown 
year after year. The writer believes, however, that 
such progress could certainly have been shown during 
the next year. The results of giving standardized 
tests and the work which followed in the Boston, 
Mass.,* schools seems to indicate that such a belief on 
the part of the writer is well founded. 

3. The teachers under professional supervision did 
approximately four times as much professional read- 
ing as they themselves had done during the previous 
year, or as the unsupervised group, with which they 
were compared, did during the year of the experiment. 

This great increase in the amount of professional 
reading done by the teachers was due to the immed'ate 
purposes to be served by the reading, as has already 
been pointed out. The superiority of this type of read- 
ing over the usual Reading Circle work may be more 
fully appreciated if it is realized that a half dozen or 
more authorities on the same subject would be studied 
by different members of the group. This gave an op- 
portunity for comparing the ideas of the several au- 
thorities. The discussions were greatly enriched as a 
result. 

4. The average attendance, measured in terms of 
total enrollment, was 76 per cent, for the year for the 



*See Boston School Decument No. 15, 1916, and No. 5. 1918. 



I02 the; vaIvUE of school supe;rvision 

supervised schools as against 70.7 per cent, for the 
unsupervised schools. 

This difference is due to two facts, in the writer's 
opinion. The school enthusiasm was up to a higher 
standard in the supervised than in the unsupervised 
schools. This may be illustrated by a incident which 
occurred in the Rudolf School on Tuesday, April 13th. 
The supervisor's circular letter had been sent out so 
that all of the schools knew when he would visit them. 
When he arrived te Rudolf he found the two children 
in that school who were in the experiment, Westley 
Schnorr and Vera Hye, present and ready to show the 
supervisor what they could do in the subject which 
was receiving special study for the month. (These 
were the only children above the second grade in this 
school.) The teacher was not present and had not been 
in school during that week. This was typical of the 
interest of all of the children who were in the experi- 
mental group. 

The second reason which accounts for the higher 
percentage of attendance is the fact that a higher per- 
centage of the children enrolled in the seventh and 
eighth grades continued in school throughout the year. 

5. In the schools under supervision, all of the chil- 
dren in the grades from 3 to 8, inclusive, made excel- 
lent progress with the greater gains usually in the 
lower grades. In the group not having supervision, 
the children in the grades below the seventh did not 
make the progress which might have been expected if 
the progress made by the seventh and eighth grades in 
the same group or with the progress made by the lower 



RESuivTs re;state;d and discusse;d 103 

grades of the experimental group were taken as a 
criterion. 

The reason for this is not estabHshed. The writer 
beheves that it was due to the fact that in the unsuper- 
vised schools the state eighth-grade examination was 
the largest influence which guided the teaching effort 
in the schools. The children in those grades, who re- 
mained in school throughout the year, were the more 
intelligent and more ambitious ones. While the pu- 
pils of the seventh grade are not urged to take the 
eighth grade examinations, many of them usually do 
in such schools. The children in the seventh and eighth 
grades, therefore, did have a goal for the accomplish- 
ments of the year which, as pointed out above, was the 
largest factor facilitating effective supervision. Not 
only that, but teachers in one-teacher schools are more 
often counted successful or unsuccessful by their pa- 
trons according to whether or not those children pass 
who take the State examination. Thus it may be seen 
that the teachers also had a motive for effective work 
in the upper grades. Since the work of the lower 
grades was not so motivated or judged, it may be seen 
why the children in the lower grades did not make the 
progress which might have been expected, 

6. Supervision served to keep in school children 
who were in the seventh and eighth grades. Of the 
children who entered the supervised schools, 92 per 
cent, continued in school to the end of the year. In 
the unsupervised schools only 69 per cent, continued in 
school throughout the year. 

This result is due to two things, it seems to the 
writer. 



I04 the; value of school supervision 

(a) Supervision served to fix the attention of all 
of the children upon the desirability of getting an edu- 
cation. Children are easily inspired and they like to 
do what other children are doing, especially if the other 
children are praised for their worthy accomplishments. 
If staying in school becomes one of the items approved 
by the social group of which the child is a member, he 
wdll likely continue in school. Such seems to have been 
the case in the experimental group. 

(b) Through supervision, possibly a higher type of 
appreciation on the part of the parents had been de- 
veloped for the education of the children. If any of 
the children were disposed to quit schools, therefore, 
the parents gave their opposition to it and their en- 
couragement to finishing the year. How this support 
of the parents was secured has been discussed already 
in another section. 

7. Supervision promoted the social life of the com- 
munity. This was done through the various types of 
meetings discussed in another place. 

B. SPECIAL RELATED CONCLUSIONS 

In addition to the foregoing results presented and 
discussed, there are two important related conclusions 
which should be discussed in this connection. 

I. While supervision gave very positive results in 
the subjects supervised, it did not get those results 
at the expense of other school subjects, the teaching 
of which was unsupervised. 

This conclusion is justified by the showing made by 
children in the experimental and control groups who 
took the State eighth-grade examinations in June, 1920. 
The children were tested in nine subjects: reading, 



RESULTS RESTATED AND DISCUSSED IQt 

writing', spelling, arithmetic, grammar, physiology, 
history, civics and drawing. The average grade of 
each group for each subject was as follows: 

Experimental Control 

Reading 76.8 73. 

Writing 85.8 81.2 

Spelling 90.4 . 92.7 

Arithmetic 70.1 69.4 

Grammar '. 78.1 75.8 

/Physiology 76.2 70.7 

( Civics 66 62. 

' History 65.3 65.5 

J Drawing !« 70.6 73. 

General Average 75.6 73.9 

From the above comparison it will be seen that of 
the four subjects which had not been under investiga- 
tion in the experiment : history, civics, physiology, and 
drawing, — the experimental group ranks higher in 
physiology and civics while th-e control group ranks 
higher in history and drawing. It should be noted 
also that the average superiority of the experimental 
group in the two subjects in which it is superior is 
slightly more than that of the control group in the sub- 
jects in which it is superior. The general average of 
the experimental group in all nine subjects, when 
taken together, is also nearly two per cent, higher 
than the control group average. When it is realized 
that the point of view and the method of the work of 
the two groups had been very different throughout the 
year, these results seem even more convincing. The 
experimental group had been striving to improve in 
certain specified functions, the control group had been 
preparing for the annual eighth grade examinatio.is. 



io6 THi: value; of school SUPE^RVISION 

It is probable that the superiority of the experimental 
group in the subjects of civics and physiology was due 
to the Health and Happiness Campaign previously 
discussed. 

The one exception to the general tendency of su- 
periority of the experimental group as revealed by the 
state examinations is that of spelling. This exception 
may be easily understood when it is recalled (a) that 
the experimental group held practically all who entered 
the school in the autumn while the control group lost 
many. It is reasonable to suppose that it was the less 
capable of the control group who quit schools and there- 
fore who did not take the state examinations, while in 
the experimental group the strong and the weak alike 
were included, (b) The experimental group had de- 
voted two months of the year to work in spelling which 
had been suggested by the supervisor — the first month 
the work being of an agricultural nature and the sec- 
ond being devoted to the Pryor Minimal Spelling List. 
At the same time the seventh and eighth grades of the 
control group were giving attention to the regular work 
prescribed for those grades by the State and from 
which the words for the State examinations were taken. 

2. In order to get the best results from supervision, 
attention must be fixed upon the elements which it is 
desired to improve. 

By reference to Table XV and Table XXII it will 
be seen that in the quality of penmanship alone did 
the total average progress of the grades of the con- 
trol group exceed that of the experimental group. This 
may be explained by the fact that at no time did the 
supervisor devote a special tour to the subject of pen- 



RESULTS RESTATED AND DISCUSSED 107 

manship. He did test the children in the subject in 
the autumn and tell them that they would be tested 
again in the spring-. He published the result of the test 
and the children saw that result. But this, apparently, 
was not sufficient to fix their attention upon the ele- 
ments involved. Speed seems to have been the pre- 
potant element in the final test. The speed increased 
tremendously while the quality was reduced. This 
was also true in the case of the control group, but not 
to such a marked degree. 

Penmanship is a subject in which two elements are 
involved : There is a "maximum mean" for speed and 
quality. If the speed goes beyond that maximum, 
quality reduces. Speed is an element of good pen- 
manship, nevertheless. If we were to rate the speed 
as one and the quality as two, the experimental group 
would be slightly superior to the control group in the 
whole complex called penmanship. The point worthy 
of most consideration in this connection, though, is 
that we can not expect children to form correct habits 
of writing simply by calling their attention two or 
three times during the year to the elements involved. 
Specific attention to the elements involved with con- 
stant practice is necessary. 

C. GENERAL CONCLUSION 

The foregoing data show that supervision practically 
doubled the efficiency of the schools for more than 
half of the school subjects and that in doing so, it did 
not decrease the efficiency in the other half of the 
school work. The teachers did approximately four 
times as much professional reading as they did without 



loS THE VALUU OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 

supervision. School attendance was improved and 
the children of the advanced grades remained in school 
longer. The character of the work throughout the 
grades and the social and economic status of the com- 
munity were improved. 

The obligations for the American school system, 
^which these results imply, are clear. For supervisors 
not to be supplied is unfair to the taxpayers who pro- 
vide the funds with which schools are maintained. It is 
a waste of the time and intelligence of the teachers for 
them not to have the inspiration to professional growth 
which supervision gives. The greatest of all losses 
accrues to the children who might be advancing twice 
as rapidly and possibly with much more joy if the right 
sort of supervision were provided. 

In order that the school system may supply these 
needs, it must secure supervisors with personality, 
training and energy. The supervisors must use a plan 
which will secure the desired results. 



Chapter IX 

A DISCUSSION OF THE PRINCIPLES IN- 
VOLVED IN THE APPLICATION OF 
THE ZONE PLAN 

In view of the fact that this experiment required 
only one week in four of the supervisor's time, it seems 
advisable to present in this, the concluding chapter, a 
fuller discussion of principles involved, especially as 
they apply to a full time supervisor. The subject is 
discussed under four heads: (A) The sphere of the 
supervisor, (B) The schedule of the supervisor's 
work, (Cj The supervisor's assistants, (D) The su- 
pervisor's use of publicity. 

A. THE SPHERE OE THE SUPERVISOR 

No one idea in the administration of rural schools 
needs to be clarified more than that relating to the 
sphere of the supervisor. A study of the si.uat-on as it 
now exists in America reported to the N. E. A. in 1920 
and 1921 by Miss Fannie W. Dunn reveals that there is 
no definite and common conception in the minds of 
the county superintendents as to just what the realm of 
the supervisor is and how it differs from that of the 
administrator. In many states, the supervisor is merely 
a deputy superintendent, there being' no clear line of 
demarkation between the two offices. 

The zone plan of supervision is based upon the 
theory that the two offices are distinctly separated. For 
the zone plan to be effectively applied, the writer feels 
that both the superintendent and the supervisor should 
see the distinction, and work according to the distinc- 

109 



no THE VAI.UE OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 

tion practically all of the time. There may be times 
when the supervisor would discharge an administrative 
function and there might be times when the superin- 
tendent would perform a supervisory function, but 
each should be conscious when he is working in the 
other capacity. 

Administration has to do with the invention, organi- 
zation and repair of educational machinery; supervi- 
sion concerns itself with the operation of the machine. 
Administration must assure itself that the machine 
will work when it is intelligently handled ; supervision 
must guarantee the intelligent handling. 

In his capacity of inventor, the superintendent will 
serve at times for a short space, actually or mentally, 
in the capacity of every operator in his system. This 
is necessary that he may recognize the problems and 
see the needs which demand new inventions. 

In his capacity of organizer, he must be the wizard 
chess player, who, blindfolded and with his back to his 
rival, can see all of the possible combinations out of 
which come victory or defeat. 

In his capacity as the man of repairs, he must have 
a sensitive ear, a keen eye, and a deft hand in order to 
locate quickly and correct easily the mechanical de- 
fects without the interruption of the machine. 

The supervisor in his capacity of expert operator 
must so manipulate the machine that it will improve 
with use. It is his function to adjust the machine, to 
care for it, to give it a soul. He gives more freedom 
where it is too tight ; he restricts it in those parts 
where there is too much play ; he becomes its master 
and it does his bidding. 



PRINCIPLES OF ZONE PLAN APPLIED III 

Administration locates the children for whom a 
school must be supplied, discovers a responsible board 
of education to stand sponsor for them, secures a 
teacher to provide the instruction, taxes the property 
to pay the teacher's salary, requires the children to 
attend the school. Supervision adjusts the daily sched- 
ule, organizes the course of study to fit the local 
needs, locates the right child in the proper place ac- 
cording to age, intelligence and training. Supervision 
looks after the child's health, concerns itself with his 
behavior, and becomes responsible for his progress. 
Administration requires of the parents support of the 
school and of the teacher a legal service from 9 a. m. 
to 4 p. m. ; supervision inspires parents to such loyalty 
to the school that they will never permit the child to 
be absent or tardy without cause and inspires the 
teacher so that she would be willing to devote herself 
to the school from 4 a. 111. to 9 p. in., and Saturday 
would be thrown in for good measure. Administration 
concerns itself with rights, duties, requirements ; super- 
vision is concerned chiefly with opportunities, priv- 
ileges, options. Legal statutes usually define the in- 
side limits af administration ; common sense and edu- 
cational theory are almost the only bounds to super- 
vision. 

The zone plan of supervision contemplates freedom 
for the supervisor to devote his entire time to in- 
creasing the joy and efficiency of the school work as 
such. The supervisor is supposed to do only those 
things which have as their aim this end. Of course, 
this might be interpreted to include anything which is 
related to the school, but the writer does not accept 



112 tpie; value; of school supervision 

such a liberal and undefined interpretation. He would 
not include anything which includes administrative 
difficulties that do not bear directly upon the school 
activities of teacher and children. Many other things 
he will do, but always as means to this end, nor as ends 
in themselves. 
B. the; schedule; oe the; supervisor's work 

One of the chief weaknesses of the work of the su- 
pervisor of rural schools is the absence of a schedule 
for his work. He too often allows it to be made by 
time and circumstances. There are three distinct phases 
of the supervisor's schedule which he should plan for 
with definiteness : (a) To what interests shall he give 
his attention, (b) how much time shall he devote to 
the field work, (c) how -much time shall be devoted to 
study ? 

(a) To zvhat interests shall he give his attention? 
The interests of the supervisor must be of, two sorts : 
general and special. He must be responsible for the 
general operation of the school. The daily schedule 
must be such that proper emphasis will be given to all 
of the school interests, that each child will have his 
share of attention and that the school machinery will 
work with the greatest ease. He must be conscious of 
the physical situation in the school. Heating, lighting, 
ventilation, and sanitation must be kept in mind. The 
general upkeep of school property and the necessary 
changes to be made in the physical situation are items 
of his proper interest. The moral atmosphere of the 
school should be sensed by the supervisor and given 
the benefit of his inspiration. These and other such 



PRINCirLIiS OF ZONIi PLAN APPLIED II3 

matters are of but general interest to the supervisor. 
They bear a close relation to the special things for 
which he is responsible. He can not do the work 
which he is supposed to do unless they function prop- 
erly. Some of them he himself must adjust, others he 
must report to the administrative forces of the school, 
the superintendent or the school board who will have 
to make the correction. They are beyond the limit of 
means and time at the supervisor's disposal. 

The special interest of the supervisor is the im- 
provement of certain phases of the school work. To- 
ward these phases the supervisor should take the atti- 
tude of a constructive creator rather than that of mere 
trouble fixer. There may be times and there may be 
schools in' which matters of general interest must be- 
come the problems for specific attention. This should 
be the exception, though. The matters of general in- 
terest can usually be controlled through the wise direc- 
tion of specific interests. What phases of the school 
work the supervisor shall elect for his special attention 
must be determined by the special need of his schools. 
He can possibly with the greatest profit to the schools 
emphasize about four different school interests or 
school subjects during each year. (This is a matter 
which should be experimentally investigated.) If he 
devoted himself to four special interests last year and 
if his teaching corps is practically the same this year, 
he can with profit take up four new interests for this 
year's work. While the four selected interests will not 
be the four most needed by every teacher, the general 
welfare and progress of the schools will probably be 
more advanced bv such a selection and such concentra- 



114 fHE VALUE OF SCHOOL SUPEJRVISION 

tion than would be the case if the supervisor permitted 
the special needs of every teacher to determine his 
schedule rather than the greatest need of the schools 
as a whole. Special needs of teachers must be given 
attention but the}^ should be considered as general in- 
terests to be attended to in an incidental way rather 
^than special interests to occupy the center of the super- 
visor's attention. 

(b) Hozv much time shall he devote to the Heldf 
Many supervisors and superintendents devote certain 
days of each week to the field work and certain days 
to the ofiice. The writer feels that for the administra- 
tor this may be a wise policy but for the superivor it 
would be a better plan if he devoted certain weeks to 
the field and certain weeks to the office. 

In practically all counties, teachers' meetings must, 
for various reasons, be held on Saturday. If teachers' 
meetings are held on that day the supervisor must be 
present. Each day of the week he should spend visit- 
ing the schools. One day out of each week is too lim- 
ited an amount of time for him to accomplish what he 
needs to do in the office if the days come disconnect- 
edly. The writer feels, therefore, that the supervisor 
should divide his time for work into sections — field 
work and home work. The field work should occupy 
about three-fourths of his time and the home work one 
fourth. 

As indicated in a previous section, the supervisor 
should divide his supervisory territory into three zones, 
one zone for each week of field work out of each month. 
There should be an average of about fifteen teachers to 



PRINCIPLES OF ZONE PLAN APPUED II 5 

each zone. If the supervisor had more than forty-five 
teachers, more zones would be necessary. 

The zones should be organized according to topo- 
graphical, social and educational conditions. Galpin, 
in his book, Rural Life, defines the community as that 
measure of territory where people naturally cooperate 
to a given end. The roads, the social habits of the' 
people and the character of schools in a given terri- 
tory will determine what shall be the territory included 
in each zone. Let us suppose that there were four 
small towns in the limits of the supervisor's territory, 
each of which had a teacher for each two grades of the 
elementary school. It would be better to have the 
teachers of these four schools meet together in one 
group, and that these four schools should constitute 
one zone. Homogeniety of interests would indicate 
such an organization. If there were twenty one-teacher 
schools within a radius of seven miles of a center to 
which the people usually came for social, religious and 
business reasons, such a group of teachers should form 
the membership of a zone. If another community were 
so situated that only ten or twelve teachers could con- 
veniently reach a given point with a reasonable amount 
of effort, the twelve should constitute the membership 
of another zone. The number of teachers in one group 
should never be more than twenty nor less than eight 
for effective work on the part of both the supervisor 
and for the members of the group. The writer feels 
that from twelve to sixteen teachers is the ideal work- 
ing unit for supervisory purposes, and that from thirty 
to fifty teachers constitute the supervisory load when 
the work is done by the zone plan; 



ii6 the; value of school supervision 

When the supervisor is planning his schedule of 
visists he must give very careful attention to the mat- 
ter of travel. In this day of automobiles and good 
roadS; wonders can sometimes be accomplished in a 
short time, but the supervisor must not plan upon the 
ideal situation, but the worst situation that he has to 
.confront. He must know where the mudholes, the 
gumbo, the sand, and the hills are located. He must 
take into consideration snow drifts. He must be fami- 
liar with freezes and thaws. He must foresee where 
he will spend the nights. He cannot make a time 
schedule without knowing all of these conditions and 
he should not make a time schedule without keeping it. 

During the season of good roads and settled weather, 
he may plan upon returning to his home in the eve- 
nings if he uses a car. During the season of unsettled 
weather and bad roads, he should plan to spend the 
nights just as near as possible to the school which he 
will visit first on the next day. The automobile should be 
abandoned when travel by means of it is rendered un- 
certain. The supervisor may ride on horseback or 
walk during this season. He should keep his schedule 
at all hazards. From Monday morning to Saturday 
night should be devoted to the interests of the schools 
of the zone. 

In some places the supervisor may find it more con- 
venient and wiser to have a regular place at which he 
spends the nights while on his trips. It might be more 
pleasant for him personally to do this, but for the good 
of the schools the writer questions the wisdom of such 
a practice. The contact with the people is invaluable 



PRINCIPLES OF ZONE PLAN APPLIED II 7 

as a means of school betterment. It may sometimes be 
difficult for the supervisor, but if his constitution will 
bear it, the effort will be well rewarded. 

The supervisor should not plan to visit more than 
one school on Monday morning. There are nearly al- 
ways some matters which demand the supervisor's at- 
tention on Monday morning" before he can get started 
on his trip. Provision should, therefore, be made in 
the supervisor's schedule for these unforeseen matters. 

The supervisor should so arrange his itinerary that 
he begins his observations at a point nearest his start- 
ing point on Monday morning and ends it on Friday 
evening at another point near the "home plate." He 
should not always make his visits in the same order. 
If they are reversed each second visit, better results 
will probably be secured. 

The teachers' meeting of each zone should come on 
the Saturday of the week in which the visits of the 
supervisor are made. The details of his observations 
are then fresh in his mind and the minds of his teachers. 
The "irons are hot" and the welding should be done 
then. 

(c) Hoiv much time shall he devote to study? The 
field service is but one phase of the supervisor's work. 
It is profitless unless the supervisor is fully prepared 
to make it fruitful. This he cannot do without time in 
which to store up energy — physical and intellectual. 
He must have time for organizing his own thinking. 
He must have ideas with which to think. He must 
know what others have thought upon the problem which 
he is attacking. 



Il8 THE VAI^Up; OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 

Three weeks filled with observation of classroom 
work, home visiting, and group teachers' meetings will 
call for a period of more quiet in which to collect his 
thoughts, relax his mind and muscles, and get a proper 
perspective with which to enter upon the work of the 
3iext three weeks. One week is little enough time in 
which to do this. 

The one week out of four which the supervisor plans 
for his own readjustments should not be infringed upon 
by other distinctly private interests. That week be- 
longs to the schools and he should use it for the good 
of the schools. This does not mean that he is to be an 
office assistant for the superintendent at that time. 
That week of free time should be devoted to reading, 
organizing his material, editing his district news- 
paper, checking up the odds and ends of the work of 
his district. If he would devote four days to the read- 
ing phases of his work and two days to the clerical 
phases, the writer feels that the best results would 
jprobably be secured from the week. The reading af 
'One absolutely new book which bears upon the subject 
"in "hand is the minimum requirement which the super- 
visor should set for himself for each month. This 
^ould be supplemented by a comparison with the 
other old books with which he is already familiar. 
There will be but slight opportunity for reading while 
the supervisor is on his field trips. If, though, there is 
some one book which bears very directly upon the sub- 
ject in mind, the supervisor might take it along with 
him so that he might refer to it from time to time for 
irerification or disproof of a point. Such reflection upon 
the work of another would do much to clarify the su- 



PRINCIPLES OF ZONE PLAN APPLIED II9 

pervisor's own thinking. Possible and important as 
this type of reading- is, it must be reahzed that the ad- 
vance study of the supervisor must be done in the quiet 
of his own Hbrary. Time must be provided for this if 
the supervisor is to get most joy and profit from his 
work and if the school system is to reap the greatest 
returns from the money which it has invested in his 
salary. 

C. THE supervisor's ASSISTANTS 

One of the first truths which the supervisor should 
get fixed clearly in his mind is that there are many 
other people who can do many things better than he 
can do them. The task to which he should apply him- 
self most faithfully is to locate those people and inspire 
them to give the schools the benefit of their excellent 
work. These people who can be of service to the su- 
pervisor in his eflforts to serve the schools fall into one 
of three classes: (a) Clerical helpers, (b) School 
helpers, (c) Allied helpers. 

(a) Clerical helpers. Clerical service may be had 
practically anywhere for half what expert supervisory 
service should cost. It would be a blind business policy 
of the school system to use two hundred dollar service 
for one hundred dollar work. The time of the super- 
visor should not be taken for the actual writing of 
routine letters and doing the office chores which less 
skilled labor can do satisfactorily. The supervisor 
should dictate his circular letters, notices, etc., and they 
should be written and mailed by the office clerical 
force. Even when this is done, there will remain much 



I20 THE VALUE OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 

of a personal nature which has professional bearing 
which the supervisor himself will have to do. 

(b) School helpers. The zone plan of supervision 
lends itself to the capitalization of the talent of the 
teachers. The groups are small enough to make indi- 
vidual work of the teachers possible. The plan leads 
to a discovery of the gifts of teachers in the school- 
room and to the development of their powers for pub- 
lic performance. One of the first opportunities for the 
assistance of the teachers was illustrated in a previous 
chapter where it was stated that the teachers graded 
some of the test papers in reading as a means of re- 
vealing the problem to be attacked in silent reading. 
This plan might be applied with great profit by a regu- 
lar supervisor. 

In regular supervision where the information of the 
teachers and the improvement of the school work are 
the major purpose and where the reliability of the re- 
sults are not so very important, the standard tests 
might be given and the papers scored each time by the 
teachers of the zone. If the maximum results for the 
schools were desired, the supervisor might give the 
test in each subject at the last visit to the school just 
prior to the time that it would be taken up for study in 
the zone meeting. He could bring the test papers to 
the meeting and the first period of the meeting might 
be devoted to grading the papers. In this way the 
weaknesses of the schools would be revealed to the 
teachers. Each teacher could get a definite idea of 
how the work in her own school ranked when com- 
pared to that in other schools. The whole problem of 
how to correct the revealed weaknesses would then be 



PRIXCIPLES OF ZONE PLAN APPLIED 121 

an interesting one. What the supervisor had to offer 
would then fall upon minds prepared for its reception. 
The supervisor could use the results from the three 
zones in his district for comparative purposes with 
great profit to the schools. Scientific methods and 
knowledge would thus become the common and ap- 
plied property of every teacher in the group. 

Teachers working together in such a group would 
give to each other much that the supervisor himself 
would have to give if working under some other 
scheme of organization. The demonstration teaching 
of one teacher might serve as the very best agency of 
supervision that could be used. A discussion of a 
demonstration might clarify a pedagogical difficulty 
for a teacher in a way that a personal conference, 
without an objective illustration of the point under dis- 
cussion, could never do. The teachers themselves can 
be the greatest means of improvement to the members 
of their group if they are wisely led and the contri- 
bution which each has to make is presented. It is the 
function of the supervisor to discover what contribu- 
tions are most needed by the members of the group, 
who can best make those contributions, and then get 
the contributions made in the best possible manner and 
at the time that they will do most good. 

(c) Allied helpers. The supervisor of rural 
schools should realize that the school business is not a 
narrow business. It properly connects with the rest 
of the world with a multitude of threads. It is for the 
supervisor to select the threads which are to be fol- 
lowed and to guide the quest. To this end he should 
consider everything and everybody as his natural al- 



122 THE VALUE OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 

lies in the education of the girls and boys under his 
tutelage. If he will keep his eyes open and his mind 
awake he will see many interests to which to intro- 
duce his children and will find many people who will 
be glad to render them service through his suggestion 
and guidance. 

^ When properly approached, public-spirited citizens 
may always be relied upon to render service to the 
rural communities. Almost any minister, doctor, law- 
yer, banker or county official will be ready to join in a 
campaign which has for its purpose the public welfare. 
Prominent women of every community are delighted 
to answer the call for service. Singers, readers, lec- 
turers on special topics will gladly render free for a 
rural audience what they would charge liberally for 
under usual circumstances. The supervisor should 
make the most of such a spirit of service. He will 
liberalize the soul of the giver and will liberalize the 
ideas of those whom he serves by such an act of com- 
mandeering. The fact is, human nature enjoys being 
commandeered. Everyone likes to feel that his par- 
ticular gifts are absolutely necessary to the cause. 
The supervisor should be expert in convincing many 
people of the necessity for them to render their service 
in the cause which he is serving — better educated 
country boys and girls. 

The people referred to above constitute the talent 
for special occasions. There will be times when they 
are necessary. The probability is, though, that there 
will be a much larger proportion of time when servants 
of the workaday sort can be used. These everyday 
servants are those who are regularly employed by the 



PRINCIPLES OF ZONE PLAN APPLIED 1 23 

county to render public service, such as the county 
agent, the home demonstration agent, the nurse, and 
other public officials. These officials will usually be 
glad to avail themselves of the opportunities provided 
by the supervisor to present to the people the cause 
which they represent. 

The supervisor may also be able to serve his district 
by securing for special service representatives from the 
state department of edutation, the agricultural college, 
the university, and normal schools. 

One fact the supervisor should always keep clearly 
in mind in connection with the service of all allied help- 
ers is that they have come to help him do the work 
which he is trying to do and not that he is serving as 
their assistant to do their work. 

D. THE supervisor's USE OE PUBLICITY 

Publicity is an agency for service very much over- 
looked and underrated by the schools. Either a false 
modesty on the part of school people or the lack of the- 
knack of advertising has in the past prevented the 
school achivements and school needs from reaching 
the public. The art of publicity is one to which the 
supervisor should give his earnest attention. He 
should concern himself not with getting a news story 
in the metropolitan daily about some strange or spec- 
tacular incident in connection with his work or with 
the marvels M^hich he is performing as a supervisor. 
Such news items reach an audience with which he has 
no legitimate concern. The people in whom he is in- 
terested are his own people in his own supervisory dis- 
trict. The news which he wants them to receive is 



124 the; value of school supervision 

the news about their schools. The news should be pre- 
sented in a form which they will understand and ap- 
preciate. The more personal and intimate it is, the 
more they will probably profit from it. To this end he 
should use three agencies: (a) A school paper for the 
supervisory district, (b) The local weeklies or dailies, 
(c) Feature stories in agricultural magazines which 
have a large local circulation. 

(a) A school newspaper for the supervisory district^ 
By far the most important of all agencies of publicity 
for the betterment of the rural schools is a little paper 
which the supervisor himself edits for his own children. 
This may be a mimeographed leaflet published monthly. 
It should be brief, terse and interesting to the children. 
It should discuss what is being done and what is to be 
done in the schools. It is usually wise to emphasize 
one cause at a time. The material should be varied 
from month to month in such a way as to keep the 
children looking forward with eagerness to the next 
issue. The interests of parents and teachers should 
not be entirely overlooked, but the interests of the chil- 
dren should receive major consideration. 

If a supervisor has three zones in his district, his 
paper should be somewhat different for the different 
zones. There could be one part which might be 
common to all zones — that which dealt with matters of 
news of a local nature might be printed in zone sup- 
plements for each zone. 

The papers should be issued by the county clerical 
force and sent in packages to the teachers. Enough 
should be sent to each teacher for one copy to be 
given to each family represented in the school. Bet- 



PRINCIPLES OF ZONE PLAN APPLIED I25 

ter results will probably be derived from the papers if 
they are distributed in each zone just immediately prior 
to the visits of the supervisor to that zone. 

(b) The local nezvspapers. Practically every family 
in the rural district which the supervisor serves will be 
a subscriber to the local paper. If this is not true, the 
supervisor will be serving public education if he will 
stimulate all to become subscribers. The rural people 
and their work do not receive their just share oC re- 
cognition from the local press in all communities. This 
is not always the fault of the papers. The press is 
usually glad to get the news. The supervisor should 
aid the newspapers in securing reliable and efficient re- 
porters in the various communities who will report the 
school news. If the supervisor has a "nose for news" 
he will be able to suggest many items of interest to 
these local reporters. The people will delight to see 
the school news from their own community appearing 
in the papers along with that of other communities of 
the county. 

(c) Feature stories in agricultural magazines. All 
of the people should be subscribers to a good farm 
paper or magazine. An occasional story in the farm 
paper telling of the achievements of some particular 
community will stimulate the people to read the papers 
more carefully and more generally and will also in- 
spire not only that community to even greater efforts 
but also others to copy its good works. Such maga- 
zines are usually glad to get such articles with illustra- 
tions of the work described. Often the papers are 
willing to send a stafif representative to report the story 
for them. Certainly an alert supervisor should not 



I20 



THE VALUE OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 



overlook this agency for inspiring one of his communi- 
ties with pride and at the same time inspiring many 
others to greater endeavor. 

CONCLUSIONS 

These are but a few of the many possible agencies 
through which the supervisor of rural schools may serve 
his people. The writer does not claim that the zone 
plan is without limitations or that some other plan may 
not accomplish even as good results if as conscientiously 
applied. The only claim that he does make is that it 
has been tried and does produce results that are 
worthwhile. 



BIBILOGRAPHY 
No attempt is made to present a complete bibli- 
og-raphy of the literature relating" to reading, hand- 
writing, spelling, composition and arithmetic. Only 
those studies which bear direct relation to the particu- 
lar phases under investigatio nare presented here. 

I. TESTING THE VALUE OF SUPERVISION 

Courtis, S. A. Measuring the Effect of Supervision. 
Geography and Society, July 19, igiQ- 

Reichert, C. Lorena. Supervision of Reading. Paper 
read before Educational Measurement Section, Wis- 
consin State "Teachers' Association, November, I9I9- 

II. READING 

Brooks, Samuel S. Conditdons Revealed by the Use of 
Standardized Tests in Rural Schools. Journal of 
Educational Research, January, 1921. 

Gill, Edmund J. Methods of Teaching Reading. Journal 
Experimental Pedagogy, Vol. I., March, 1912. 

Gray, C. T. Types of Reading Ability as Exhibited 
Through Tests and Laboratory Experiments. Sup- 
plementary Educational Monograph, Vol. I., No. 5, 
University of Chicago. 

Grav. W. S. The Relation of Silent Reading to Economy 
in Education. Sixteenth Year Book. National So- 
ciety for the Education. Part I. 

Studies of Elementary School Reading Through 
Standardised Tests. Supplementary Educational 
Monograph, Vol. I., No. i, Univ. of Chicago. 
Principles of Method in Teaching Reading as De- 
rived from Scientific Investigation. Eighteenth Year 
Book, Part II. National Society for Study of Educa- 
tion. 

Hamilton, F. M. The Perceptual Factors in Reading. 
Archives of Psychology, No. 9, 1907. 

Kirchner, H. W. Report of Reading in Dodgville (Wis- 
consin) Public Schools. Starch's Educational Psy- 
chology. 

King, 1. Comparison of Rapid and Slow Readers in 
Comprehension. School and Society, 4: 320-324. 

Peters, C. C. Influence of Speed Drills on Silent Reading. 
Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 8, Page 

350-366. >T O ^ 

Boston Public Schools— School Document, No. 18, 1916. 
National Society for the Study of Education. The Twen- 
tieth Year Book, Part II (entire). 

127 



128 THE VALUE OF SCHOOL SUPERVISION 

Thorndike, E. L,. Reading as Reasoning — A Study of Mis- 
takes in Paragraph Reading. Journal of Educational 
Psychology, Vol. 8, June, 1917. 

Waldman, Bessie. Definite Improvement in Reading 
Ability in a Fourth Grade Class. Elementary School 
Journal, December, 1920. 

Waldo, K. D. Tests in Reading in the Sycamore Schools. 
Elementary School Journal. Vol. 15, 251-268. 

III. LANGUAGE 

Charters, W. W. and Miller, Edith. A Course of Study 

in Grammar. Educational Bulletin No. 9, University 

of Missouri. 
Fillers, H. D. Oral and Written Errors in' Grammar. 

Educational Review, Vol. 54, 458-470. 
Sears, Isabel and Diebel, Amelia. A Study of Common 

Mistakes in Pupils' Oral English. Elementary School 

Journal, Vol. 17, 44-54. 

IV. SPELLING 

Fulton, M. J. An Experiment in Teaching Spelling. 
Pedagogical Seminary, Vol. 21, 287-289. 

Horn, Ernest. Principles of Method in Teaching Spelling 
as Derived from Scientific Investigations. Eighteenth 
Year Book, Part II, National Society for Study of 
Education. 

Kirby, J. T. Practice in the Case of School Children. 
Contributions to Education, No. k8, Teachers College. 

Pryor, H. C. Testing the Value of Concentrating the At- 
tention of Children Upon the Order of the Letters in 
a Word. A Guide to the Teaching of Spelling, Chap. 
I. Macmillan Book Co. 

Wagner, C. A. Grouping by Similarity cvis a Factor in the 
Reaching of Spelling. Univ. of Pennsylvania. 

Wallin, J. E. W. Spelling Efficiency in Relation to Age, 
Grade and Sex, and the Transfer of Training. 

V. PENMANSHIP 

Freeman, F. N. Practical Studies in Handwriting. Ele- 
mentary School Teacher, Vol. 14. 167-179. 

Principles of Method in Teaching Writing as Derived 
from Scientific Investigation. Eighteenth Year Book, 
Part II. National Society for the Study of Educa- 
tion. 

Judd, C. H. Penmanship in the Cleveland Survey. 

Starch, D. The Measurement of Efficiency in Handwrit- 
ing. Journal of Educational Psychology. Vol. 6. 
106- 114. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



129 



VI. ARITHMETIC 

Ballou, F. W. Improving Instruction Through Education- 
al Measurement. Educational Administration and 
Supervision, Vol. 2, June, 1916. 

Brown, J. C. An Investigation on the Value of Drill 
Work in the Fundamental Operations in Arithmetic. 
Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 2, 81-88. 
Vol. ?., 561-570. 

Bulletin No. 7. School Document No. 3, 1916, Boston 
Public Schools. 

Conrad, H. E. and Arp, G. F. An Experimental Sttudy in 
Economic Learning. Journal of Educational Psy- 
chology. Vol. 2, 507-529. 

Drusal, J. A. A Study of the Amount of Arithmetic in 
the Command of High School Graduates, Who Have 
Had no Arithmetic in the High School. Educational 
School Journal, Vol. 17, 657-661. 

Hahn, W. H. and Thorndike, E. L- Some Result^ in Ad- 
dition Under School Conditions. Journal of Educa- 
tional Psychology, Vol. 5, 65-84. 

Kerr, Mary. The Effect of Six Weeks of Daily Drill 
in Addition. Indiana University Studies. 

Kirby, T. J. The Results of Practice Under School 
Conditions. Contributions to Education, No. 58, 
Teachers' College. 

Tlie Results of Three Types of Drill in Arithmetic. 
Journal of Educational Research, November, 1920. 

Kirkpatrick, E. A. An Experiment in Memorizing vs. 
Incidental Learning. Journal of Educational Psy- 
chology, Vol. 5, 405-413. 

Mead, C. D. An Experiment in the Fundamentals. The 
World Book Co. 

Mead, C. D. and Sears, Isabel. Addiive, Subtraction, 
and Multiplicative Diviision Tested. Journal of Edu- 
cational Psychology, Vol. 7, 261-270. 

Phillips, F. M. Value of Daily Drill in Arithmetic. 
Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 4, Page 

159. 

Pyle, W. H. Economic Learning. Journal of Educa- 
tional Psychology, Vol. 4, 148-159. 

Thorndike, E. L. Practice in the Case of Addition. Jour- 
nal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 21, 483-486. 

Wilbur, Flora. Experimentis zifith Courtis Practice Pads. 
Indiana University Studies. 

Wimmer, H. An Experimental Study of the Effect of 
Drill in Arithmetic Processes under Varying Con- 
ditions. Indiana University Studies. 



